Contents page deconstruction

Horse and rider magazine

The masthead is at the top of the page to ensure it is the first thing the viewer reads. It is a simple font and says 'contents' so that people know what the page is about. Above the masthead is the date so that people know which issue they are reading.

The subheadings are all in colourful boxes to attract attention to them. The sub headings are also very short and snappy to catch the audiences eyes.

This contents page has a very simple but effective layout. The different articles are categorised into sections (such as regulars, ask the experts and in the saddle), so that people can easily find what they are looking for. As horse and rider is such a large magazine with almost 200 pages, people would quickly loose interest in a contents page if it was just one large list. Thus, the way they have laid it out makes different articles stand out and makes the page much more exiting and eye-catching

They have also included a contents of the cover page. This is so that if somebody see’s an article that they are interested in on the cover, they can quickly find it using the cover page contents.

Composition

Necessary informationThe contents page includes the main necessary information such as the date (which is situated at the top of the page above the masthead), the page numbers and subscription links.

The page number is in the bottom corner of each page where you would turn the page. This is so you see the page number before you turn the page and also so that it’s the last thing you see (as people read from top to bottom). As well as this, it is out of the way of the main text and articles.

The link to subscribe to get the magazine monthly is in a box with much larger font. This encourages people to notice it as they want people to subscribe to there magazine.

The TextThere is not too much text on the contents page as they need to keep it simple. The contents page is the first page seen in the magazine, and if the person is immediately overpowered by text, they may not be tempted to read on.

All the articles are categorised into sections to enable viewers to find the article that they are looking for quickly and easily.

Some of the text is laid out in alternative ways such as in boxes or clouds to attract the audiences eyes.

They only use 2-3 different fonts to avoid the page looking to overcrowded and to also make it look more clear and simple. The same applies to the font colours; only two font colours are used, red and grey.

Linguistic featuresThe contents page uses many linguistic features to catch the attention of the audience. The first example is “Got a hoof ache?” This is a play on words (pun) as ‘hoof ache’ sounds a lot like ‘tooth ache’. As well as this it is a rhetorical question and this helps to gain the curiosity of readers. The contents also uses alliteration such a “perfect prizes” and “power to the Para’s”, this ad's a bit of fun to the magazine and also attracts the audience’s attention.

The contents also used informal language such as “Horsy shopping”, “what’s on the web” and “Paws for thought” To counteract the more formal language used in the contents page. This ensures a balance; the magazine does not appear too formal, and does not appear too childish. Indirectly, this compliments horse riding as a sport, it’s fun and can be very informal, however it can be very serious and hard work.

ImagesThe images are all of horses to show the reader what the magazine is going to feature and also to connect to the text (which is all about horses and horse riding). The main image is on the left and it takes up around half the page. The image features a horse and rider doing ground work in an outdoor arena. The riders red jacket and the horses red tendon boots match the red numbers, the red cloud and the red boxes. This helps link the two pages together.

The other images are of a cantering horse, a horse being ‘picked up’ and the magazine cover. These images are used as a contents, if the reader is interested in the picture, it has a page number of what page the image is featured on.