The document analyzes and summarizes characteristics of music magazine contents pages from publications like Q Magazine, NME, Mojo, and Rock Sound. Some common features identified include organized layouts split into sections, bold and colorful page numbers, headings and captions summarizing stories, and the use of images to illustrate content. The analyzed magazines generally featured simplistic designs with clearly organized text and elements like quotes, photos, and color schemes to attract readers' attention to the magazine's contents.

1. Music Magazine Contents
Pages

2. Q Magazine Contents Page
Analysis
After looking at a few examples of contents pages from Q
magazine, I can see a few characteristics which I like.
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The design is quite simplistic and very organised. The
text and images are organised in boxes.
There is a definitive colour scheme, of red, black, grey
and white, which adds sophistication to the contents
page.
The page numbers are coloured red, which makes them
stand out. They are also accompanied by a bold title of
the page. Beneath the page number and title is a short
description of what can be found on that page. I like this,
because it’s simple and effective.
The page is split into 5 main
sections: The title, a list of main
features, the main story, the regular
parts of the magazine that appear
every month, and finally the part of
the magazine dedicated to reviews. I
like this, because it is clear and
organised.

3. NME magazine contents page analysis
Below are some features and characteristics of the
contents page from NME which I have noticed and like:
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The page is typically split into 9 sections below the
title. 8 of these 9 sections feature an image, a page
number, and a short description of the featured story.
The page numbers are bold and stand out, making it
easy for readers to navigate around the magazine.
The 9th section is called ‘Plus’ and lists extra features
of the magazine without an accompanying photo and
caption.
I particularly like the use of multiple photos to illustrate
the content of the stories, since I think it makes the
page more interesting and attractive.
I also really like the use of quotes
in the captions to the photos. Since
this gives you a hint of what is to
expect in the story, and adds
quirkiness to the page.
Similarly to Q magazine, I like how
organised the contents page is;
how it is separated into boxed
sections.

4. Other examples of contents pages from
music magazines
I also looked at contents pages from other music magazines. I found that magazines such as
Mojo and Rock Sound went for a very different approach compared to Q and NME, instead of
everything being organised into sections and having multiple photos, these magazines
typically used one photo as the background. The background photo was usually of an artist
who is featured in the magazine. This made the page look simple and less busy in
comparison with other magazines. The contents were typically listed to the side of or above
the image. Similarly to Q and NME, the page number was a different colour and bold in order
for it to stand out, and the contents are made up of a heading and then a short
accompanying description of the story.

5. Typical Features of Music Magazine
Contents Pages
After researching into contents pages from a range of music magazines, I can identify some
typical characteristics which I should take into account when designing my contents page. They
are:
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Title: each contents page I’ve looked at has had a title. They are typically smaller than the
masthead on the cover, but big enough to stand out.
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Images: the number of images used varies depending on the magazine, however, they are
typically used to illustrate what and who features in the magazine.
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Page numbers: On all contents pages I’ve looked at, the page numbers have always been
formatted to be bold and stand out, whether that’s done by using a different colour font or by
making the font size bigger.
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Headings: A selection of headings are included in the contents page, telling the reader which
stories are featured.
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Captions: The headings are typically accompanied by a caption, telling the reader more
about the story, making them want to read it.
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Date: the date of the issue is also usually featured, but not very largely.
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Organised layout: Most of the contents pages I have looked at have had fairly organised
layouts; usually split into boxes and sections, making it clear for the reader.
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Colour scheme: In contrast to the front cover, the contents pages seem to have a much
more organised and regimented colour scheme.