Music Magazine Analysis: Contents Page #3

Contents Page Analysis #3

This contents page comes from the magazine, Hip Hop Connection. Due to the fact the main image in the background is composed of dark colours, the designer has used white as a contrasting colour, this is an essential convention which enables the text to easily stand out and be readable. 
This is a feature which I will undoubtedly utilize when creating my own magazine considering that if the text cannot be read, it will in turn affect the whole magazines practicality.

This contents page makes use of a red white black colour scheme; the red helps to add a pop of colour to the overall appearance of the contents page and brings all the elements together nicely. I feel this colour scheme gives the contents page a masculine look, and therefore reaches out to the male society. The designer has positioned the title in a red box as at allows it to be more prominent as well as looking slightly different in comparison to the rest of the text on the page. 
I like the way the designer has kept this colour scheme consistent across this page, this is something I will definitely make use of when I am deciding on the colours for my own magazine; I will make sure to take into account what pieces of text need to be more prominent than others, and alter them so that they will be.

The main story on the page is situated at the bottom right of the contents page, it is instantly noticeable that it is a lot bigger in comparison to the other contents, in addition it is also right aligned which further separates it from the other text. As well as this, the large side profile mid-close up image is also part of this content, this feature clearly divides it from the other text and emphasises the importance and dominance that the article has within the magazine; yet the red on the page number keeps the page together, prohibiting the contents from looking too disconnected.
I will employ the feature of emphasising the main top story when creating my magazine, to make it apparent to the reader that it is an imperative component of the magazine.

Looking overall at this contents page, I would describe it as being plain and simplistic. This gives it the ability to be readable and user-friendly, I feel that if the designer hadn’t have used the hints of red within this page, it would dramatically change from a reasonable effective page to being quite boring and less likely to be successful on shelves due to the lack of appeal and interest. 
I will definitely consider what areas of my magazine need to be perhaps slightly more simplistic than others, to ensure the ability for aspects to be seen. I don’t like the idea that there is only one attribute of a magazine that makes it attractive and engaging to the reader, I would like my magazine to be a combination of many elements coming together to create an effective and successful magazine as a whole.