Contents page analysis

As I am making a content page for my magazine, I need to do some research into what the conventions are for my chosen genre. I have analysed KERRANG magazines 2010 contents page.

 

 

Conventions

Colour Scheme
They have stuck to a very specific colour scheme of black and yellow, the black adds tone and depth as a base colour and the yellow is used as a contrasting accent colour to highlight important articles or headings. Red is also used to highloght the page numbers so it's easier for the reader to navigate the page, it's also used

Images
The main image on the contents page is usually anchored to the second most important article, this is the case here because the image takes up half the page therefore the audience recognise it as important. Also all of the secondary images include their corresponding page numbers written on them, this achors them to the written contents for easy navigation of the page.

Editors letter
This is usually placed on the left hand side of the page as it's not the most important area of text. Here the editors letter is obviously reasonably important as is it includes a large secondary image to attract the readers attention, also the editors letter displays what's going on at KERRANG HQ to give the reader an 'exclusive' insight into the behind the scenes elements of the magazine.

Contents layout
the contents is divided into categories rather than in chronological order using headers in yellow font on black box outs for ease of access. The articles are in bold and are often quite ambiguous to intrigue the reader into reading the sub lines below which provide more information on the article.

Puffs
Puffs are used to draw the readers eye to a highlighted article or area of the page, for example the words 'cover story' are placed on box outs shaped like stars and are located next to the star articles which therefore become anchored to the front page.

Fonts
The fonts used represent the genre of the magazine, it is bold, straight edged and powerful, a bit like rock really. The use of a 'smashed' effect really adds to the font by making it less 'mainstream'