Magazine Analysis: Contents Page

The first thing I did on my contents page was create my background colour, which was to be one of the three colours from my colour scheme of blue, gold or white. I chose blue as the appropriate back drop for a contents page, and then I placed the main image for my contents page in the document. This image is a very typical image for a contents page in a Hip-Hop magazine, because it is placed to the side of the page, giving the space for the actual contents, and is also not directly addressing the audience. This sort of image is found very often in magazines such as Vibe.

Secondly, I placed my contents header. It is in the same font and colour as the main title, showing some carry over and brand identity between the two pages.

In this screen shot you can see that I have added two white rectangular shapes, one at the top underneath the contents header, and one at the bottom going behind the main image. This is to continue the colour scheme, and brighten up what is otherwise quite a dark page. It also gives me room to write the main story in a stand out way.

Here I have begun to write the main storys contents in the white gap I had set separate for the cover story. This could also become a form of brand identity because it is something unique to the magazine and could be

done with all cover stories being created. Also it will immediately draw the audiences eye, as it is different to the rest of the page.

In this print screen we see the finished contents for the main story. The title of the article has been made bigger than the rest of the contents, and beside it the number of the page has been placed. The change of colour used in Yasiin Bey from the white to the blue of the main images shirt is something that is v ery common in a Hip-Hop magazine.

Here I have put all the most interesting headline in the document, another feature that is common in the genre. I have also varied the size of the headline depending on both the importance of the story and the interest of the story to the audience.

This print screen now shows the near finished product, with all the headlines having both a description of the article, and the page number that the reader can find it on. Here you can see how the use of the white background for the main story helps, as it is definitely clear to the audience which is the article about the cover story.

There is only a small edit in this print screen. I have added the date, title of the magazine and issue number to the contents, once again to add a professional look to the contents page.

In this print screen I made the decision to change the title of the magazine (that I had added in the previous slide) to a twitter profile, something that the audience can follow. This can perform as a zeitgeist in the magazine, as it shows and up to date and modern magazine.

The final edit I made was to correct a mistake I had previously made. The description for The Last Zulu article had been white, so I changed it back to yellow to fall in with the rest of the descriptions bar the cover story description. So here is my final Contents Page.

Tolu Awojobi