Contents Page Analyses

 This contents page for Q magazine has a clear theme that relates to their logo. The colour scheme is very simple but effective and highlights the important parts of the page - the logo etc. There is no letter from the editor and the purpose of this page is clearly just to show you where the most important parts of the magazine are. There are pictures to accompany each article and a small description of what you will find on each page. This is very effective because it gives the reader an idea of what they are going to be looking at before they see it. This lets them decide if they are interested in that article straight away or will leave it for later and the pictures support that by giving the page some flare and colour.

Unlike most contents pages, this one only uses one main image, similar to conventional front pages. This draws more attention that article, and it suggests that the artist featured is the main story featured in this magazine. The large "V" seen in the background is for "Vibe", the title of the magazine, and keeps a strong theme even though we aren't looking at the front page where the logo and title would be featured. The colour scheme is consistent with the text, "V" and image, creating a strong theme that makes the page look more appealing. The use of the red on the heart is striking and draws attention to that picture, meaning that the reader also sees the caption with it and the story behind the picture. Again, there is no letter from the editor and the page exists purely to deliver information about the articles featured in the magazine.

 Despite the busy appearance of this contents page in comparison to the others, there is still order within the theme, and all of the text fits in with it, either being red or black. There is still no letter from the editor, but there is a small introduction to a possible story in the magazine. NME have used more organisation with their contents page, splitting it into clear sections for the articles, and also have a band index that shows the reader the pages they need to go to if they want to look at a specific band. There are arrows placed around the columns that highlight specific articles that may be of popular interest, as well as a big red arrow at the bottom that leads the reader on to the rest of the magazine.