Case Study: Contents Page Analysis

TIME:

The contents page of TIME magazine is very formal and simplistic. The overall layout is quite cleverly thought out and gets right to the point.

The only image on the page is of a man named “Ken Feinberg” he is sat at a large wooden table and has very little expression on his face. He is wearing a suit and tie and behind him hangs large framed picture and awards. On the far-left column there is a very small black and white image of Charlie Chaplin but this image is not immediately noticed. The colours in the larger image are dull and dead. The picture looks like it was edited to not attract much attention.

The layout of the contents page is written up in blocks of writing and is not very eye catching other than the fact that subheadings are written with red background and parts of the texts are highlighted in yellow. From the look of the magazine it looks like the target audience are people very involved with politics and current affairs. The magazine seems very political and up to date on what’s going on in the world. The articles are written out in bold with the description next to it. In italics is the name of the writer.  It is all written in quite a straight forward way. The Date is written in small insignificant writing at the bottom.

The language used is very simple but quite selective. Names and events are mentioned that only someone who is interested in this type of subject is interested in. I can see this from the way the articles are written. “The Pay Czar, Unleashed How ken Feinberg determines worth by Stephen Gandel”. This is written to a specific audience that is up to date or is interested in this kind of affair. I can see that this is a very informative magazine and that it is only used to inform.

We POP Magazine:

Image result for we pop magazine contents page. The contents page of this magazine is very colourful and bright. I can see this as several colours that’s are eye catching and appealing to a younger feminine crowd.

There are several pictures on this contents page which I feel is used to attract a crowd. There are relevant celebrities on this page that most young people know and love. This is a very trendy magazine therefore there is no shock that celebrities such as Justin Bieber are on the contents page. There is one large picture in the centre of the page of the girl group, the Saturdays with a large number on the corner resembling the page number in yellow. This immediately draws the reader’s eye to the centre of the   page and later to the corner to check what page they can read about them. The next thing the eye is drawn to is the large subtitle in the lift corner (INSIDE THIS MONTH). Under the subtitle there are page numbers with a description of what is on the page next to them. The descriptions are all written in some sort of rhyme or short phrase. At the bottom, there is a long section in blue with all the pictures of the posters present in this magazine. These posters are of young teenage pop bands which are very popular and relevant.  Under the rest of the images there is either a quote of the artist on the image or a statement that’s relevant to the article.

The layout of this contents page is quite organised but also quite casual.it is loaded with eye catching colourful images and a lot of colour. The actual information about the content of the magazine is written very neatly at the bottom of the page and significantly not titles ‘contents/contents page’ but ‘INSIDE THIS MONTH’. The actual contents of the page and the little descriptions are written in and alternating black and pink to keep the reader engaged and interested, it is also written in very simple language and relevant slang language. There is a little block of writing of what looks like some sort of letter or maybe interview done by a girl called Emily which is written also in very simple casual language and signed with a sort of hand writing font with and ‘x’ at the end resembling a hug/kiss. And right at the top of the magazine there is of course the main title, ‘WE LOVE THIS...’ The fact that again it is not called the contents page is again significant and may be used to not seem formal or very serious but relaxed and teen appropriate.

Overall I believe this magazine is aimed at little teenage girls due to the colour pallet and type of language.