Research - Analysing Music Magazine - Contents Page and Creating A Flat Plan

This is the contents page for the music magazine Rolling Stone. As you can see the house style of the magazine from the front cover is carried on and reoccurs for the contents page showing continuity. Black and white are mainly used for the colour scheme showing how the magazine is sophisticated. These colours are not related to a specific gender therefore promoting that the magazine is unisex. Most of the text on this page is black on a white background which allows it to be bold and clear for the reader to see, they can locate the different articles easily. Furthermore the numbers of the pages are a deep pink colour which again allows the audience to notice them, it helps the reader be directed to specific articles they wanted to read effortlessly. The contents page shows some organisation as the different articles have the important information in a larger and bolder text for example 'Rock & Roll'. This way the reader can identify what the article is going to be about. The main image on the contents page which is located on the right side of the page is of Johnny Carson known as the King Of Late Night Shows dancing with who is known as the Godfather Of Soul, James Brown this again is a reminder of the style of Rolling Stone magazine, emphasising its sophistication. This shows that the target audience is for older teenagers and adults as only they would know who these people being featured are. Below the iconic image is a summary paragraph which tells the audience about the article and why Rolling Stones has featured it in the magazine. This will interest the reader into turning to the article and having a read as it has now grabbed their attention. Situated at the top left hand corner of the contents page is another small picture that is advertising a different article. The particular article is letting readers know who are the top earners in the music industry, this could interest them as the artist with the most earnings may even shock them. The picture encourages the audience to turn to that page as they will want to know whether the artist featured in the picture which is Beyonce is the top earner or not. Below that article is the drop down menu where the rest of the articles along with their page numbers are listed clearly. Right at the top of the page in inverted commas is 'All the news that fits' this suggests to the audience that the magazine has included all relevant articles in its magazine and only the best articles therefore the audience is reassured it is getting the best of the best information and stories.  Another feature that is very effective is that the music magazines website is noted in blue at the bottom of the page so it stands out. This allows the reader to find more information and additional articles online until the next issue of the magazine comes out. 

Overall I think that this music magazine front cover is quite successful as it provides the reader with an organised contents page however a simple one so that the articles are easily identifiable. The main image and caption underneath gives a snipit of what the articles inside might be like, it keeps the interest of the reader locked onto the magazine. My one criticism is that the contents page could include information about an up and coming competition or an offer that the magazine will do for the reader, so that the audience keep coming back for more.