CONTENTS PAGE OVERVIEW

CONTENTS PAGE OVERVIEWJust like the front cover overview, I will be using a variety of different contents page which are shown on the left. They are from ‘Top of the Pops’ and ‘We Love Pop’. As you can see, there are a variety of typical contents page conventions used throughout which I will be exploring. Through this overview, I hope to achieve more knowledge and understanding about pop contents pages. I have chosen these contents pages as they were the ones which caught my eye, and I thought they were the most effective and attractive.

Each of the pop contents page that are presented on the previous slide, all share common features which makes people know they are from pop magazines.

Each contents page carry out bright colours like pink, yellow, sky blue etc. Pop magazines does this as pop is known to use bright colours because this indicates innocence and happiness, just like the target audience’s personalities. These colours are also used to stand out and catch the readers eye, convincing them to pick up the magazine, and find out what features are included, which have a results of making them buy the magazine. In each of the contents page, they all use the colour bright yellow which indicates the sun; this allows us to think of summer, happiness and joy. They use this colour to highlight information as it stands out and becomes more appealing to the reader. This is making the reader aware that the magazine has made an effort to make the magazine more easier for them to read, as well as assure it is attractive. It is a common convention and feature for a contents page to have a simple colour scheme as the front cover which is used on each of the contents pages shown on the first slide.

The reader is able to recognise what contents page is from what magazine, due to the symbiotic links from the front cover. For example, each of the ‘Top of the Pops’ magazines has an image of the front cover on their contents page. This is used to remind the reader what magazine they are reading. In contrast, ‘We Love Pop’ don’t use their front cover on their contents page, but instead have their slogan at the top right corner and “We LOVE THIS” in bold, which attracts the audience and also reminds themselves of what magazine they are looking at. These features are effective as they stand out and are appealing to the reader, making them carry on reading.

Another common feature in each of the contents pages are the use of images. Each individual contents page contains a number of different images that relate to what articles are included inside the magazine. This is to break up the amount of text that is being used, and making the contents page more fun and appealing. It is also attracting the reader through a variety of images, as they stand out and convince the reader to find out more information about the articles inside the magazine. The images are different sizes, from small to big but all have bright lighting as this represents innocence and purity, just like the target audience and pop artists. Moreover, these images are close up shots which gives the reader a more closer look of the artists.

As you will be able to recognise on each of the contents pages, they all use page numbers. This is a common feature for a contents page. Pop magazines also use page numbers on the images presented to make it easier for the reader to find out what page to turn to, to read that particular article. This is making it easier for the reader to navigate and access, which is allowing them to make a repeat purchase due to the layout of the magazine.

It is a convention for contents pages in a magazine, to have one main image relating to a feature article and other smaller images. This is attracting the reader who picks up the magazine, and makes them want to carry on reading. Both pop magazines ‘We Love Pop’ and ‘Top of the Pops’ do this which is enticing the reader and luring them in. It is also a common feature for the text on a contents page to be in columns, as this is more neat and tidy, and presented appropriately. Furthermore, this also makes it easier for the reader to find articles and organise the contents into sections. Subheadings is also a convention in contents pages, as this groups articles with page numbers. Colloquial language is also a convention that is used in pop magazines as this suits the target audience of young teenage girls. For example, ‘Top of the Pops’ use ‘We Boys’.