Contents page analysis

1. Contents Page
Analysis
In this I will pick several contents pages from music
magazines and analyse them.

2. The first thing that you see is a red
banner/strip that goes right across the
double page spread. On page 4 it has the
letter Q in white and the word contents in
black. The letter Q has always been in white
so doing the word contents in black makes it
stand out a bit more from the page. Below
the red banner you will find that they use 3
columns on each page. The first column on
page 4 starts of with a subheading which
says features. This is in a red text box just
like banner at the top. Underneath that you
will see a picture which seems to be a
stamp with the letter Q in it. Below that it
says ‘Q awards 2010 with Russian standard
vodka-The winners’. This is something
important to Q because otherwise they
would not have posted it. So underneath
the column ‘features’ it lists some artists
and has a small description about them. An
example of this would be the first one,
which has the number 48 and then the band
name take that. There is a small, thin, grey
line between the two words/numbers. This
just splits them up so you know that they
are separate. The number 48 is the page
number where you will find all the articles
about take that. Underneath the number
and band name Take That, there is a red
line. This is thicker than the grey line
because it is separating more information.
Under the red line is a small description,
which gives you a taster on what is on their
page. This is all the same for each of the
artists below the Take That. The second and
third column on page 4 is taken up by a
huge group pictures of the band Take That.
This picture is in black & white and in the
top left corner you will find the number 48
in black. Take That is the main the artist for
this page. You can tell because they are
advertising them the most by having a huge
picture of them and being the first artist to
look at under the features column.
On page 5 the red banner continues, and on
the top of this it says Issue 293 in white. This
tells us that they have already had 293 issues
of Q magazines released. In the first and
second column on page 5 there are photos
that take up the majority of the space of
these two columns. The first pictures takes
up the two columns and it seems to be a
pictures of some sort of band. In the top right
hand corner of the picture there is the page
number that relates to the pictures. They
have used black for the number because they
want it to stand out. Also, they have taken
this picture in a studio, as they have a plain
off white background. In the first column the
second picture down shows an image of
Rhianna and this shot also looks like it was
taken in a prepared photoshoot. In the
bottom right hand corner is the number 42.
This is found in a black text box and the
colour of the number is white. These two
colours standout from each other which is
why they would put them together. Below
Rhianna there are two images that seem to
be taken from a concert. It is advertising Q
Live. They layered the second picture on top
of the first picture, but only very slightly.
They have advertised this because they are
wanting people to come to the live concert
so more money can be brought in for the
company. In the second column second
picture down there is an image of two artists,
and I think they are different. The first small
image shows a guy playing the guitar, and the
word ‘Crazy’ is written underneath. On the
image next to it shows a medium shot of a
man and it has the word ‘Heart’ written
underneath. Below these pictures is another
image. This picture is based in a café. There
are two people sitting next to each other and
they seem to be looking directly into the
camera. In the bottom right hand corner is
the number 34 which is in a black box and is
written in white.
Underneath the picture in the café is a ‘Q review’. There is a thick, red line which separates
the images from the review. This is a good way to separate pieces of text that may not be
relevant to each other. The word Q review is in black font and the actual review is written
in red. Next to this you have column 3 on page 5. This has a similar layout to the first
column on page 4. At the top you have an image which shows a front cover of Q magazine.
That front cover is focused on Take That, and it uses the same image that is on the contents
page. Also the image on the contents page is taken slightly at a different angle and it is in
black and white. Seeing this front cover image makes me think that on page 48 they are
going to show some behind the scenes photos from the photoshoot. However they will not
be showing the actual pictures that were taken, they are showing their own images that
were taken at a slightly different angle. Furthermore underneath the front cover picture
you have a banner that says regulars. The banner is red and the writing is white. Under this
I think you have all the other odd features that you might find in the magazine. For
example: the first one says ‘Q mail’ and as a short explanation underneath it. They are all
layered out in the same way. You will have the page number, then what the page is about. A
red line will be underneath the page title and would have a short explanation of what the
page is about. This is what the column looks like all the way down the page.

3. This is also a Q magazine so it is set out in a
similar way to the other magazine contents page.
At the top of the page is a banner which has the
letter Q on the right hand side, which is in white,
and the word contents is written next to it which
is in the colour black. This banner goes right
across page 4 and 5. In the first column you have
the features. There is red banner which has
‘Features’ in white written on it. Below this you
have an image which seems to be a picture of the
band Queen. The image seems to have been taken
from a concert but its taken from the side of the
stage. After the image you have the word Queen
written in black with a small explanation of what
is in the picture etc.. This writing is in red. Using
these two colours means that they are more
noticeable because they stand out from each
other. Underneath you have a range of artists
names/features and a small description which
relates to the artist/feature written underneath.
So for example: the third one down says the
number 62 with the name Adele written next to
it. There is a thin grey line between the number
and the name which separates them and adds
effect to the page. Below the name and number is
a short description, which probably talks about
what is going to be on that page about Adele. The
description is separated by a thicker red line. As I
said before this just separates the information
and adds effect to the page. This is carried on all
the way down the page for the following artist (in
order from top to bottom), ‘Ready Eye, Linkin
Park, Adele, Handwritten Lyrics, and Noah and
The Whale’. Next to the features there is a image
which takes up two whole columns. This image is
a close up photo of a singers face. The camera is
angled high up above his head and has probably
been zoomed in a bit. You can tell that he has a
very serious expression when taking this photo. In
the bottom left hand side of the photo there is
the number 46 in white. This is the page number.
You can tell that this image is the main focus of
the contents page because is it the biggest image
on the two pages.
On page 5 you also have three columns. At the top of the page you have the red banner
which reaches across both pages. On this it says ‘Issue 296. The first image takes us two
columns and is a picture of a band. This seems to be set in a lounge or sitting room. The
image has a slight vintage vibe to it. There are four people in band and they are all
spread on in the photo. Below this image in the first column there are two more images,
and one is below the other. They seem to show a page in a magazine, whether that’s Q
magazine or a different magazine. It is hard to tell what is on in the image but on the left
hand side of the image there is a whole article. On the picture below there is a man
sitting don but you can’t see his whole body. On the right hand side on the image there is
another article. The first image has the number 74 written in the bottom left hand
corner, and the image below has the number 40 written in the bottom right hand corner.
Beside these two images is a photo of Adele, and this photo is in the second column. In
this picture Adele is sitting down, but the photo is cropped so you can’t see her legs. She
is laughing in this photo and the actual photograph has been taken in a studio. You can
tell because they have used a plain white background. On the right hand side, half way up
is the number 62. Having these numbers on each artist helps the reader because it means
that they can go straight to the page they want, which talks about the artist they want to
read about. This is the page number for Adele. Below the image of Adele you have the Q
review. This is accompanied by an image, unlike the other one. The image is in the first
column and the review is in the second column. There is a small red line which separates
the images above from the review. On the red line you have the phrase ‘The Q Review’
written in white. The image for the review is a picture of Paul McCartney.
The last column on page 5 shows
the regulars. Just above them is
an image of the a Q front cover,
and the artist used for the front
cover is the singer in the big
image of page 4. The front cover
is just a typical front cover page
for Q magazine. They have used
that front cover image, because
they are trying to advertise their
magazine more so that if anyone
who likes that artist can go get
that certain magazine. Below the
picture you have the regulars.
This is layered out in exactly the
same way as the features, but for
this they just talk about different
things. At the very bottom of the
page they have the page numbers
and the year the issue came out.
The page numbers are in a black
box with white writing.
The colour scheme for
this page is quite simple,
but effective. The
colours used are red,
black and white. They
are a good mixture of
colours because they all
stand out from each
other, but at the same
time they work well as a
colour scheme.

4. This is a contents page for billboard
magazine. On the left hand side of the page
you will see a charts lists. This features a
range of artists who's songs and or albums
have got in the chart. At the top of the
charts lists is has number one written in
white and is against a black background. In
much smaller font the words ‘on the charts’
is written next to ‘No.1’. They have written
number one in much bigger front because
they want to try grab peoples attention.
For example: Those who are interested in
the charts will see the word number one
and will instantly look at that section of the
page. Using black and white is a good idea
because these two shades stand out from
each other the most than any other colour.
Below the title, is has two lists for the
charts. The first column says either the
artist, band name or song title, but for the
other column, I am unable to read it as the
picture is too pixelated to read it. The
words albums, artist, songs and the phrase
‘this week on’… are all in yellow and are in
a grey box. Using the colour yellow makes
the writing stand out more, which makes it
more obvious for the reader. Furthermore,
at the very top of the page nearer the right
hand side, is the word contents. This is in
the same font as the word number one and
also it is in black font. There is a thick
blue line which separates the word
contents from the writing and images that
are below it. You could say that this makes
the word ‘contents’ stand out more
because you could say that it is on its own.
What I mean by this is that there is nothing
surrounding the words contents that could
distract the reader from looking at it,
therefore its stands out more. There is also
another blue line, (this one is thinner),
which separates the charts from the other
information and images on the right hand
side of the page.
Below the word contents there are three column and at
the top of theses columns there were three images, which
all seem to be photos of artists. I don’t know any of the
artist featured so I can’t give their names. The first image
is a photo of a man singing with a microphone. It seems a
if the image was taken from a concert or something
similar. It is a medium shot and the artist is looking
towards the left of the page. On the picture you have the
number 12 written in white. This gives you the page
number. Inducing the page number on the picture is a
very good idea because if someone sees the photo of the
artist they like, they might want tot go straight tot the
page with them on, so this gives the reader a quicker and
easier way to find the page they like. The next image is a
photo of a man holding a guitar. This photo is more
zoomed in than the other one. I would say that due to the
guitar and vintage feel the photo gives me, the style of
music this man does could be either, folk or country
music. Just like the one next to it, this image has the
page number written on it in white. Looking at the third
image, I can tell straight away that this is to do with rock
music. I can tell because of the outfit the artist is
wearing. Just like the other two, this picture also has the
page number at the bottom. Below these three images is
a whole section of text, and to the right of the text is a
photo of an artist. This is medium shot which is in black
and white. Using this colour scheme shows a sense of
professionalism. You can tell by the background that this
photo was taken within a studio. Also, the background for
the image also counts as the background for page.
Starting at the top of the text, the first heading is
‘Upfront’. This is in capital letters, which makes it stand
out more. The subheading then says Time to dance
followed by a bunch of text below. The next heading is
features. Like the other heading, this one has several
subheadings with some information underneath. Beside
each subheading it has a number. This much be the page
number. The last two headings of this section are, ‘music’
and ‘in every issue’. Unlike the other two these ones only
have subheadings a no information underneath each one.
At the very bottom of the magazine, it is advertising their
online website and events that will be happening. It also
tells you about touring and futuresound, which is an event
that billboard hosts.
The overall colour scheme for this contents page is quite simple. The use of
cool tones gives the magazine a cool and higher end feel. The black was
mainly used for headings, subheadings, text and the masthead, and the blue
was mainly used for the dividers that split up each section of the page.