Contents Page Research

Antony Pettersen

What is the purpose of a contents page?

The purpose of a contents page is to dictate to the reader in what order the magazine is going to be laid out in. It included images related to the articles and page numbers for the related articles.

Also the contents page will usually contain an editorial and a motif of the magazine.

Typical Conventions of a contents page

Text – Articles headlines and brief overviewImage – Image of articles main feature Page Numbers – shows you where to find articles

Editorial – message from the editorSets out the initial page design the magazine will followRepetition of magazine name throughout

House Style definition

The house style of a magazine is the identifiable style which the magazine uses in every issue. This will include colours, typefaces and modes of address.

Examples of house-styleLogo

Typeface and font colour the same

Colour scheme:RedWhiteBlack

White space used to draw attention to certain articles

GridSystem

Column design on contents page

Contents page analysis 12 column grid feature.

First column contains the page layout of the features purely in text.

Second column is split into two sections. Top half contains a specific article with a picture. The second half contain almost a mini contents page for the review section of the magazine.

Block headline with motif of magazine title

Images being used relate to articles

Colour Scheme – Red + Black

Contents page analysis 2Three section design horizontally.

Top section lays out what the page is e.g. contents

Middle section has the main cover story in it with a large image of the cover story as well as text relating to the story.

The bottom section is split up into three columns. Each column has a different type of article from the magazine in it and the colour scheme is red and blue. Also there is a puff advertising a competition.

Creating a house style for my student magazine

• My contents page will be similar to my front cover as it will contain the same colours typeface and general design as my front cover. Also the same motif will be achieved for the name of the magazine as well as fonts being of similar sizes along with pictures being of a similar style. Also the same type of language will be used to address the reader.