Contents Page Research - Kerrang!

For the magazine that I will be creating I need to include a contents page so I have decided to look at some examples of contents pages from Kerrang! and Big Cheese as I have looked at their front covers so I will be able to see how they have followed through from the front cover to the contents page and see if their layouts are similar. This will allow me to grasp the concept about how contents pages should be laid out. In this post I am going to focus on the layout of Kerrang!'s contents pages.

This is an example of a typical contents page in Kerrang! magazine. They have split the page in half by a white line. Above this line is a medium shot of a band member from Blink 182. This image is shown to be taken at a concert which reinforces the target audience personality for readers of Kerrang! magazine. This image has been partially covered by a black box, top right, that informs us that this is the contents page. Below this box are two smaller images that are pictures of the double spread pages that follow on from the main image of Blink 182.

Directly beneath the white line is a black strip which informs us what is in this weeks issue. Under this it a white background which has been used so that the information stands out. This has been split into four columns, so that it is easier to read and pick out the key parts that you wish to look at. In the first column is a note from the editor of the magazine telling the reader what has happened this week. These are sometimes quite personal which I think helps the audience connect more with the magazine almost as if your friend was telling you a story from what had happened to them this week.

The next two columns are the listings for each article which specifies the page that you can find it on. This is what makes it a contents page as without these listings the reader would not know what page to turn to for the articles that they are interested in. Some listings have a couple of sentences in much smaller text which is like a sneak peak of the article relating to the listing.

The final column on the right is a listing also but on this particular one they have included a small image which has text laid over the top to tell us what this p[age will be about. This includes a smaller image because it is also a featured topic in the magazine, however it is not as heavily focused on as the large image above the white line.

Also they have chosen to advertise the subscription to the magazine underneath the final listing. This is to remind the readers that they can receive the magazine straight to their door and save money on the price of the magazine. They also include a double page towards the end of the magazine that includes more information on how to subscribe, it usually offers a gift with the subscription to attract more people.