Magazine Analysis Contents Page 1

A contents page's primary use is to inform the buyer or possible buyer of what is featured in the magazine. It is an expectation of the public to find a list of pages with stories about various issues or people as well as supporting images. Usually contents pages are only used on single pages within the first couple of pages of the magazine, however Q tends to feature its contents page over a double page. As a magazine they can afford to do this as they have a lot of advertising and plenty of pages to fill. Also Q's supporting images are a lot bigger than is expected within a contents page. Both the left hand side of the page and the right hand side of the page are taken up by the actual contents of the particular issue. The information under the left hand side of the page are written under the title of 'Features' which means that these are the stories that change with every issue. The stories at the right hand side of the page fall under the category of 'Regulars'. These regulars ensure familiarity with the magazine as elements such as 'Qmail' and 'Soapbox' are features that a customer can expect and indulger in every issue. As a reader, the audience will read from left to right. By placing the 'Features' in the left third and the 'Regulars' on the right, this ensures readers will see what is new in the issue first as opposed to reading what is in the 'Regulars' first. This technique is used to increase sales.

Between the 'Features' and the 'Regulars' are several supporting images, all relating to either stories mentioned in the two columns or presenting stories themselves. This technique is useful as it allows more stories to be shown in the contents however they do not all have to be written. Images allow a reader to immediately recognise an artist and choose who they want to read about.

At the bottom of the page is 'Q Review'. This feature again shows what is featured in that months issue. It also suggests the surprising or controversial stories such as 'Take That and Muse are mentioned in the same sentence'. This feature again helps a reader identify the specific story that they wish to read. Finally in the top left hand corner is an image of the front cover of this issue. This is used to remind the reader of the top story in this issue and help persuade them to actually take a look at this story.