Research on Contemporary Magazine Contents Pages

Research on Contemporary Magazines

NME magazine Contents Page

NME contents page is certainly different to the rest perhaps because NME has recently developed a “new look” this is the first issue, and therefore will intend to be edgy and different to past conventions. NME seems to be leading the way, or creating its own way in terms of the layout of their magazine. The contents page is very simple in terms of colours and information. There is no indication on what the content of the magazine is, I suppose this may be because they intend the audience of being aware of the contents as they perhaps expect loyalty. They need limited pictures on the front cover because there are 9 other front covers available to buy that are shown. In terms of sales, the re-generation of the magazine will encourage audiences to go out and buy the new issue so they don’t really need to sell the magazine by its content page. In conclusion, the page is very different and I quite like the simplicity and organized order of the page, a refreshing change to all the celebrity magazines which bombard the pages with lots of information.

Kerrang magazine Contents Page

This contents page is very much split into two halves. The top half includes pictures with reference to the page that the story is on, this allows the reader to go straight to the desired page and read the story, making their reading experience that much easier. The second half of the page is very busy and includes; the contents of the magazine, a page by page outline – under a subheading of the type of content, such as News, Reviews, Features and competitions. The left of the page is the editors column, which includes a picture of the editor and some information of what can be expected in this edition of “Kerrang”. The bottom left of the contents page is a chance to subscribe to door delivery of the magazine – a marketing technique used to secure loyalty in customers. The background colour of the bottom half is white, whereas the top half is black.

Inside Soap Magazine Contents Page

The contents page for this magazine is very busy. The contents are down the left hand side of the page, they are structured by the different soaps. The page number is in bold red or yellow alternatively and the text is all black – the cover stories are in bold. Down the centre of the page are only pictures with a number on them, this is very simple but readers will soon assume that this is the page number, and being regular soap watchers they will know the characters. Similar to other contents page there is an editor’s report of the magazine, this is in a separate box at the top of the page. I think that this is effective because it breaks up the page and makes things more exciting. At the bottom of the page in another separate box is a features column, this is in a separate colour and is perhaps the least looked at on the page. The colours are not bright and don’t allow for much attention, I think that the features column is simply to bulk up pages and to add audience involvement to the magazine. Overall I don’t like the layout as much as the NME contents page, however, the page still consists of what seems to be necessary items such as the contents, editors column and a few pictures.

Heat Magazine Contents Page

Heat magazines content page I feel is very structured and organized. There are 4 clear areas to the magazine at the bottom of the page, separated by different colours. This makes a refreshing change to the lists and reels of a typical contents page where the page numbers are listed with a title of each pages activities or interviews. In the centre of the page is a story intro with two pictures attached very artily using masking tape and ripped paper effects. I really like this special effect as it contrasts with the order of the boxes below. The texts used are all the same, only differentiating by using bold, italics and different sizes. At the bottom of the page are the page number, and the website of the magazine – an interesting marketing tip, whether this is much looked at as it is in a very small font, and if I personally want to find a website I just type it into Google. However there is no harm with it being there, as perhaps it may incline the reader to go onto the website if they are having a throughout scan of the page – rather than just skim reading and looking at pictures.

Closer Magazine Content Page

The Closer magazine content page is alike Heat – very structured. There are 3 vertical columns, one consists of three pictures, the second column reels of all the different pages in the magazine and what their content is, and the third is a mixture of the front cover in detail and the Editors column. The colours used match completely with the front cover, pink, and yellow, black and white. The text is all the same, but differs due to bold, italics, and size of each font. The text colours consist of all the 4 colours stated; white, black, pink and yellow. I like the link at the top right side of the page – there is a bubble consisting of information about the stories on the front cover, this is the same shape as the bubble at the bottom of the front page. I like how not only is Closer magazine relating each pages by using the same fonts and colours, but is using similar shapes. This is interesting and none of the other magazines I have looked at have done this. I do think that the list in the middle of the page is a bit boring and wordy; however, the colours and images at either side of it bring the page to life and balance out the dullness.



From this research

From this research I have decided that my contents page will not be overly complicated and fussy, but will be simple yet colorful – linking in both the traditional music magazines simplicity and the colour schemes from the women’s weekly magazines. I think it is very important for all the pages to match, by using the same fonts, colours and even shapes. There are some conventions which all the content pages include, such as a page number, magazine website and some kind of format presenting the different pages and their content. However, there is some dissimilarity such as the special effects that Heat have used regarding the main image on the contents page, and NME’s decision of using paper to present the magazine rather than glossy paper which the other 4 do.
I think that in order for a magazine to be successful it must have something that is different from other magazines, a unique selling point that makes it stand out from the crowd. From what I have seen on these content pages, they are becoming busier and more vibrant so that when a potential customer flicks through the pages they see that there is plenty going on and they are getting there money’s worth. I have decided that my magazine contents page will be relatively busy, but not so that it is “in your face”, but not quite as dull as the contents page of NME. eH