Q Magazine Contents Analysis

• The contents page continues Q’s magazine house style by following with the professional looking colour scheme of red, white and black with the occasional bright colours to indicated page numbers reference. The page uses quite basic fonts those similar to the front cover (continuing the house style) however, it does incorporate some different ones to make that particular language stand out more. The main contents bit consistently uses a basic ‘Arial’ font for the page numbers and the name of the artist and ‘Times New Roman’ for the extended description. It then uses different fonts for the review section connoting that that information is separate to the main contents.

• The contents page makes use of the first running head which includes the colour scheme and the ‘Q’ emblem of the magazine. Looking through the entire magazine I see that the running head is a consistent asset of the house style as one appears on nearly every page. The purpose of a running head is to define the article in the form of a title. This connotes that Q magazine wants to portray an informative tone to their audience. It would also be important for Q to have this running head and a strong sense of house style so their audience can easy identify what they are reading with Q magazine.
• Q magazine uses a style of columns in a certain way to make it attractive and eye catching for the reader. It makes the double page contents look neat and organised, yet appealing to the customer or reader. These columns are separated by lines within the columns to define the clear articles that are being shown on the contents page. The lines break up the articles giving another different format that allows the entire contents page to work and fit together. The organisation of the format of the lines allows the different articles to work together on two pages, but also separates the different articles, texts and pictures. Both these formats allow the double page to work together.
• The contents page includes 10 featured articles with their page reference numbers. These are in bold fonts and in bright bold colours to make the page reference numbers stand out. This connotes that these bold colours can push the importance of the main articles they are promoting in the contents page. There are several photos about the chosen articles with text on the contents page. Most of the photos are making eye contact with the reader, making the article personal, but can also make it feel quite intimidating. The effect of the direct eye contact makes the reader take an interest into their article so you want to read it. The images are cropped for effect and scattered across the page to fill the double page contents. The effect of the cropped images allows a variety of different photos and formats, and also makes an effect of the cropped image to look as if it is jumping off the page.
• Date and issue of the magazine are included on this page. This is repeated through other issues of the magazine to inform the reader. This is effective as it is informative and sets out a professional feel to the magazine. This is important that this is included so people can find the issue they are looking for. Where the date and issue are laid out they are in an obvious place for the reader to find the date and issue number, making the set out of the page clear and organised.
• The contents page is set out in a neat and organised way. All the colours and text link with each other. Q magazine is a good example of a conventional music magazine in the sense it uses columns and good structure of text making it organised. However, over lapping images slightly relaxes the structured convention making the magazine less serious and have a more sensationalist tone, showing the house style of the magazine. The typography and the conventions of the colours are the same as the front cover.