Media Essay – Analysis of a magazine contents page


A contents page is another key factor that is essential to any magazine. It informs the reader of what is featured in the magazine and which pages certain features are on. This particular magazine, Icons, is a monthly magazine all about classic Hollywood stars and their lifestyles. It contains information from passion, mystery and style to glamour, history and love. Icons takes a closer look at what happens behind the scenes in the lives of glamorous stars and also gossip and stories about the true icons of the industry. I chose this specific style magazine font cover to analyse because its something which is different from the traditional music magazines, fashion magazines and gaming magazines which the younger generation of people are mostly interested in.

The title of the magazine is situated at the top of the page in very large, bold lettering. This catches the potential buyers focus, and draws their gaze to the top of the contents page and by having the title in large letters it makes it clear and easy to read. Also the title of the magazine is a gold colour. This connotation makes the magazine come across as being glamorous and of good quality. The background of the contents page is white which therefore makes the image and the text stand out more as the colours contrast with the background. The colour and font of the title is consistent throughout each magazine which helps the magazine become recognised as it is given some form of identity.

The sub heading of the magazine ‘departments’ is written in capital letters and in a vibrant red colour. The list of features the magazine contains is situated immediately underneath the sub heading. Each individual feature of the magazine (letters to the editor, news & events, silver screen reflection, Q & A, on DVD, book corner, icon style, director spot light, who put it on the page, star quality dining) is on a separate line and spaced out equal distance from the next line. Also page numbers are at the start of each of the contents in the magazine which makes the contents page organised. This makes it more appealing to the potential buyer as it is easy to read and looks neat and aesthetically pleasing on the page. The colours of the headings about the features are black and red. These two colours go well together and also make the page more sophisticated because both the colours can represent different meanings, such as, the red could represent the feature of ‘love and passion’ in the magazine and black could represent ‘mystery and style’.

Situated to the right hand side of the headings of the contents of the magazine there is a large image of a woman. She is wearing an elegant black dress, long black gloves, a large black hat with a white sash around it, black sunglasses, black high heeled shoes and a black umbrella. This elegant looking woman is well-known actress and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn. She is on the contents page of the magazine because there is an article about her in one of the features. Also she represents the magazines specific style of glamour and famous actors and actresses perfectly, as she is dressed in glamorous clothes and led a glamorous and enthralling lifestyle. She is an iconic figure for many women across the globe.

Audrey is mostly dressed in black. This shows how sophisticated she is and also represents mystery and style. The image is situated at the right-hand side of the page and the text/information is situated at the left-hand side of the page. This makes the page layout look very neat, organised and doesn’t make it look ‘over crowded/cluttered. I think this contents page is very successful as it is attractive, appealing to its target audience, looks professional and also informative and organised.