This document analyzes the contents pages of several indie rock magazines. It discusses design elements like layout, use of images and colors, placement of titles and dates. Key points include: - Magazines typically use 1-4 columns and large central images on contents pages to attract readers. - Color schemes, fonts, and placement of titles/dates/page numbers are consistent with the magazine's overall style. - Contents pages include cover lines, band indexes, editor comments and self-advertising to promote issues and subscriptions. - Page designs are carefully crafted to clearly present content sections and guide readers to find articles of interest.

1. Contents Page Analysis
Research: Indie Rock Magazines

2. Research: Indie Rock Magazines
For the magazine they have used red on the
pages so it stands out and differentiate from
the other texts and so that the reader would
also pay attention to the pages more as well.
They have used red on the index as well to give
importance to the index section because
people would normally disregard the index
section/page therefore to showcase the other
bands that are featured in the magazine they
put an index section on the contents page. This
also helps the reader look for the bands and
artist that they like reading about or listening
to.
They have continued on their house style by using a
black block background at the top of the page to
back the white text an the red text with white
background. This is so that the writing is legible and
it is also appropriate to the magazine.
They have put their magazine title at the
top so that people know it’s NME’s
magazine and they have included it with
the ‘This week’ To create a sentence out
of the two titles. They have put ‘This
week’ in big bold writing because it is the
headline of the page and this shows the
reader that they’ll be reading featured
articles ‘This week’. Also they have put
‘week’ on the head line which shows
that this magazine is sold weekly.
They have put a band index onto the contents
page, by doing this makes the reader buy the
magazine because it shows that there are
other artist featured in the magazine as well
and the artist that they like or follow might be
there therefore they would buy the magazine
because of it.
They did not over do their contents page by
adding a lot of images but they have use one
big image to fill most of it however they have
made their contents page to fit other factors as
well such as the band index, the contents page
pages and some paragraphs with the main
article.
They have put a small advert to advertise their
magazine, this is very common in any
magazine because it is the only place where
they can remind people to subscribe to their
magazine. The advert is quite large because
they want it to be prominent.
This magazine has their main image
however the main image is split into two,
with this it creates columns to the whole
layout of the magazine. Typically a
magazine would have 3-4 columns on
their contents page.
They have put a plus section at the bottom as
well to show the other bands that are featured
in this magazine as well as them being on the
index page.
They have also put titles on each section
to help break the magazine up. This is
useful because the reader can find what
they're looking for immediately and this
makes the magazine look more
professional.
They have used an arrow that points to
the next page, they have done this to
direct the reader to the page that has
the story that is attached with the
arrow.

3. Research: Indie Rock Magazines
The Q magazine has got their magazine mast
head or title on the top left. It is subtly placed
along with the title of the page which is the
‘Contents’ page.
They included the date and the issue number
on the top right of the magazine as well. This is
compulsory for many magazines this is so that
it shows when the magazine has been
published. And what issue they are on.
They also have a secondary image that relates
to a different article or section on the
magazine.
They have kept their colour scheme of red and
white with the other colour scheme of the
magazine which is red and white
They also have black for the background of
the white text for the title and the other white
writing on the page.
They have sectioned it off as featured, every
month and reviews. This is so that people
would know what type of articles they are so
that if they are looking for the new
information in the magazine or what are the
usual articles on the magazine.
They have used the black block to separate
sections, this has also been done with the red
rectangular background on the left column.
They have done this to section the articles and
so that there us order in the contents page.
Also they have done this to keep the colour
scheme consistent and to separate the section
from either being featured or regular.
They have used white for the title or headline
texts to differentiate them from the other
texts on the contents page. They have used
bold text for the cover lines and normal and
smaller fonts for the added information on the
contents page.
Similarly like the NME magazine they have also
got the page number in a different colour than
the other text on the page. By doing this
makes they numbers more noticeable by the
reader.
The main image takes up most of the page.
This is usual in any magazine this is so that it
wont make the contents page look boring and
filled with text. They have also done this so
that it would draw the reader in and make
them look into the story more by putting a big
picture that would relate to that story.
They advertise themselves in the contents
page as well however it is quite subtle. They
have put their websites are the top right of the
magazine below the issue number and the
date. Compared to the NME magazine where
they self advertise at the bottom of the
magazine Q magazine advertise themselves at
the top right and they do it subtly. This is so
that they do not ruin their theme or house
style.

4. Research: Indie Rock Magazines
Mojo magazine includes 3-2 columns in their
magazine contents page. This is because its
conventional to have more than 1 column to
set out their page
Mojo magazine has more than one images that
relates to the magazine on their contents page
and images are dominant which takes most of
the page. They have one column filled with
information
They have a white, red, black, blue and yellow
colour scheme on their contents page. The
colours yellow and the blue are linked with the
images that has the same shade of the colour
as well. By them doing this it links the images
and the text together so that the whole
contents page is consistent
They have also put information on the images
about the picture which is also paired with a
page number as well which anchors the image
to the story. The colour of the text is white
against a dark background so that they are
able to read it
They have used bigger and bold letters for the
cover lines on the contents page. This is so
that the reader wouldn't need to read all of
the text to understand what the page is
about.
The Mojo magazine title or the name of the
magazine is at the top of the column where
there are text this is because they want to
separate the texts from the images clearly.
They have also done this to remind the
reader that it is Mojo magazine.
They have made the white box that makes
the writing legible on the right column
translucent so that the image at the back
that has been extended over the right
column to bee subtly seen.
They have also put the author/editor’s
statements who are the top contributors on
that month, most magazine also has the
authors input on the contents page.
However it rarely includes it in music
magazines such as NME and the Fly
magazine.
The headlines are colour white as well and
they are against coloured background
such as red and blue banner. They have
paired the colour of the banner with the
colour of the page number as well this is
so that the reader can know which articles
are which. They have added headlines to
break up the contents page as well
because it will look boring and plain with
out the headlines against coloured
background.

5. Research: Indie Rock Magazines
The quality/editing of the image looks
quite white washed therefore it blends
well to the white background.
The Fly magazine has not included their
magazine name or mast head on the contents
page. Compared to the other music magazines.
They have included the issue number on
the contents page as well however it is
very subtle as it is just a number that is
present with the image. The readers would
get confused on what that number is. In
this case the issue number is 21.
They have put the date in large fonts and has
become the main text on the contents page.
This has made the contents page of the
magazine look like a calendar.
They have only used black and white
except for the their colour scheme
throughout except for the date.
They have titled the contents page as
‘contents’ on the top left of the page so the
reader will know what page they are reading.
They have only put the cover lines on the
magazine with the page number, this contents
page looks more like an index page for artists.
Which is usual as this magazine is only to
advertise new indie bands.
They have one main image on the
contents page. Which is the image of the
artist that is mainly featured on the
magazine. The text colour of the date is
similar colour to the lips of the artist.
They have done this so that there is a
colour scheme throughout the page.
The page numbers are also big and bold so
they are noticeable to the reader and they
would immediately know where to turn to look
at that band/article next to the age number.

6. Research: Indie Rock Magazines
Kerrang magazine has included the
editor/author’s comments on the page, many
magazine do this however through out the
magazines that I have research a couple of
them did not include the editor’s comments on
the page.
They have used black background text
box behind the yellow text so it is legible
and they have done this to acts as the
headlines and separate the sections on
the contents page. This is so that they
have a structured layout and it is much
easier for the reader to find the section(s)
that they want to read in the magazine.
Similarly like the other music magazines and
typical magazines they have filled half of the
page with image/images. This is so that their
layout wont look plain and boring. They also
don't need a lot for the text because it only fills
one column.
They have also used self advertising at
the bottom right of the page because it is
where magazines typically use self
advertising. People would go to the
contents page more frequently to find the
article they want therefore by putting it
there reminds them about subscribing to
the magazine because they have self
advertised themselves on the contents
page.
They have also used columns for their layout
of the magazine contents page. They have
done a 4 column layout to their page and one
main big image fills two columns like in thins
contents page. They have made that image big
because it is the main image which implies that
it is the main article in the magazine
They have also put the page number either on
the picture on under the picture on this
contents page to anchor the image. So that the
reader would know where to look for it in the
magazine and what it is about. They have used
the colour scheme of black, white and yellow
to continue their chosen colour scheme
throughout the magazine because they have
done the same colour scheme on the front
page as well.
Kerrang magazine did not put their mast
head or name of the magazine on their
contents page compared to other
magazines like Q magazine or NME
magazine.
They have made the page numbers bigger
than the cover lines so that the reader
would know what page to go to in the
magazine.
They have used headlines such as This
week, features, reviews and news in their
contents page to break down the content
of the contents page.