Analysing a Contents Page

The contents page spreads over two pages. There’s a combination of text and pictures. The pictures illustrate the content and focus of the magazine.

There’s a black and white long shot of Cheryl Cole 
striking an abstract pose. This shows it’s expertly done which adds a sense of professionalism and stardom to the singer, representing her in a positive light. She is wearing a metallic studded tank top and ripped tights which convey the wild and bold lifestyle of a rock star; coinciding with the original rock/punk theme Q magazine is often associated with. This shot contrasts with the light, pop music Cole did with pop band Girls Aloud, however after her slighlty recent break from the band, Q has decided to shoot her with a more extreme, rocky look. The arrangement of the images is similar to a collage. Images are placed sporadically across the pages and some aren’t in line with the page. This adds a reckless idea corresponding to the lifestyle the artists written about in the magazine. Additionally in this instance, there are numerous pictures larger than the text and

This magazine uses a simple colour scheme consisting of red, white and black. Other colours used come from the pictures themselves. By keeping to this colour scheme the magazine gets consistency which leads to the magazine being recognisable just by a glance at the colour format. A house style is created as the repeated use of the same colour and font gives the magazine a distinctive identity.  

This contents page has two sources of indication; the text and the images. Both have numbers which point the audience to the page with its information. There are pictures with musicians which are likely to have a story on them. There are however other topical issues in the magazine but they don’t differ too much as it’s all showbiz related. This tells me the focal point of the magazine is the entertainment industry and the insertion of several quite professional pictures shows there should be a lot of information which is mostly accurate.

At the bottom of the contents page there is an imperative which says; “subscribe at www.greatmagazines.co.uk”. This is a promotion to accumulate followers and increase support.

The magazine logo is placed in the top left hand corner of the page. This is where natural reading begins. By placing the logo here it imprints the logo and the name in to the readers mind. The bold use of red also alerts readers and serves as an ‘attention grabber’. The connotation attached to the colour red works well with the themes of the magazine. The themes being quite extreme and aggressive to represent the individuals featured in the magazine.

Q has several franchises. Along with a monthly magazine, they have music channel aired on television, a radio station call “Q player”. They’re not promoted on the contents page.