Analysing a Contents Page

Analysing a Contents PageBy Jenna Grieves

Kerrang!ContentsPage06/11/10:

Layout The page is split into half with the top half bearing an image of the band ‘My Chemical

Romance’ at a gig. The bottom half of the page is the list of the features which you can find in this weeks

magazine. They are sorted under headings to make finding certain pages easier to read. In the top right hand corner is the title ‘Contents’ and underneath that it states the

issue number and the date which corresponds to the cover of the date which this issue was released so in this case the cover date is 06/11/2010 which is the day this magazine was released.

At the top of the second half of the page is says ‘Kerrang! This Week’ which tells the reader that you will find listed almost everything you will be able to find in this weeks magazine.

The contents are organised into 4 columns. In this 4 columns are sub-headings under which you can find articles which correspond with the matching headings so if you know the magazine well and are looking for something in particular for example if you are looking for the gigs, you can look under the ‘Gig Guide’ to find the right page number to turn to.

On the right hand side of the content columns, you can find a note from the editor which sums up some of the stories you can find in this weeks edition.

The main image on this page is the one of ‘My Chemical Romance’ which is at the top of the page so you will see it first because you generally start reading at the top of the page and work your way down. It is also the main image because it is on of the main stories covered in this magazine.

Layout: On the same top half are smaller images of the other main articles, one being a

double page spread. I think it shows you this because you can have a sneak preview of what the article is going to look like when you open up the double page spread in the magazine.

On the bottom half of the page, it has 5 smaller images because there isn’t enough room for larger images in that half of the page. The first image is of the editor.

The next 3 images are of ‘Green Day’ which are sneak previews of the posters that are featured in this magazine. This is an important feature in this magazine because it is described on the front cover.

The last image is of a band called ‘Bring Me The Horizon’. It shows them acting really confused. This is because they are taking part in ‘The K! Quiz’ which is a regular feature in Kerrang!

In the bottom right hand corner it has pictures of previous Kerrang! covers with the advertisement of subscribing to Kerrang! magazines for a cheaper price than it would be to buy Kerrang! every week. Also it says you will be able to get your magazine delivered to your door so that you don’t have to go to the shops specially for Kerrang!

On the top half of the page, the captions have arrows on the end to show what picture the caption is relating to. This makes it easier for the reader to see what caption corresponds with which image.

Images and Colours: The main image for this issue is the band ‘My Chemical Romance’. This

band has featured in Kerrang! magazine for a couple of weeks now which shows that they must be a hit with the readers of Kerrang!

The main image has very vibrant colours so that it stands out on the page and catches the eye of the reader once they turn the page from the front cover.

There is a picture of the editor by the editors note. This is so the readers that they can feel like they know her personally so that there is a connection between the editor and the readers.

There are 3 pictures of the band ‘Green Day’ which also appear on the front cover. These images entice the reader to buy the magazine because they are offering a free gift of posters.

Underneath the heading ‘The K! Quiz’ is another picture of a band ‘Bring Me To The Horizon’. This is a famous band so it makes the readers think that Kerrang! is a ‘cool’ magazine.

The colour scheme for the contents page is white, yellow and black. These are used many times throughout because it is the Kerrang! house style.

Words and Language: Each article is under a sub-heading so that it makes the contents page more

organised and easier for the readers to find something specific. The heading used are: Feedback, News, Win, Lives, Features, Albums, Gig

Guide and The K! Quiz. These headings are in order of what the readers what to read about first starting with the news and ending with a quiz to show that their readers want to know about news and other important features about music artists and finish off the magazine with a quiz.

Each heading is short so it is simple and easy for the target audience to read. Under each heading is a blur which gives a small description about the article

so that you can see whether or not you want to read that article. Kerrang! uses a lot of exclamation marks throughout the whole contents page.

This is to add emphasise on words and also links in with the masthead Kerrang! itself.

By some of the articles is a little symbol saying ‘Cover Story’. This provides readers with information by telling them that they are the articles which were stated on the front cover. This helps the reader if they are looking for an article featured on the front cover.

The font is the same all over the contents page. This is because this type of font is the house style of Kerrang! Also the heading, sub-headings and the article names are all written in capitals to make them stand out.

Words and Language: The article names are written in bold writing to make them stand out. The

blurs underneath are written in normal font as they aren’t as important. The language is informal so it makes the readers feel like they know the

bands which makes them more likely to read the article. The note from the editor is signed at the bottom to show that its very

personal which makes the readers more likely to read it as they know it is written by her. This also links in with the reasoning for having a photo of her.

Other Features:The other features on the contents page are: - Editors Note - Advert to subscribe to Kerrang!Other details on the page: - Issue Number - Cover Date - Who took the Cover Photo - Who took the Contents Page Photos