Contents Essay

The 'We Love This' contents page looks as if the target audience is girls aged between 13 - 17 years. The colours chosen are very bright but limited with only 4 main colours: pink, blue, white and black. The title is still the main focus of text and the font is bold and colour black to stand out. The pictures are quoted and have numbers on them to show the reader what page the article is on. The actual contents 'Inside This Month' has only numbered a few articles that are seen as the most important articles  they are also chronologically ordered to avoid confusion. On the bottom is a panorama like collage of posters to add extra information that posters are included in the magazine if people like to pin up posters on their wall. The pictures are high quality and look professional.

'The Q Review' is very different to 'We Love This', firstly the title is not the main attraction and it is more a magazine based on reviews not articles about an artists life. The target audience would be a wide gap from people aged 16 - 30's seeing as there is a variety of artists aiming to young and older people. For example the picture of Ellie Goulding would reach out to the younger generation whilst the cartoon looks like an older man is very much older generation. There is also a variety of music from Dappy to The killers where they are from total opposite music genres so this magazine could be trying to reach out to a wider audience. The artists in the 'This Month' contents are all highlighted and capitalised from the rest of the text to make the reader see the artists included in the magazine. The contents is not highlighted unlike the  'We Love This' magazine however it is still chronologically ordered and have sub titles then a bit of information underneath to give a brief summary of what the article is based on and to make the reader want to read more. The contents page also includes a subscribe, to let the reader know that the reader can receive a new issue and save money on the magazine if they are a regular buyer.

'Mix Mag' clearly indicates from the main picture that it specialises in holiday and party reviews abroad. It is a much simpler layout to the rest of the contents pages with only one picture and one column on the contents but is very effective as it is very eye catching because of the colours. The bright text on the dark background is a very effective way to grab the readers attention and make the magazine look interesting. The text is quite informal as the picture is quoted "Vegas baby!!" this could show that the target audience is quite young, 18 - 25. As it is a magazine about going abroad the target audience is very limited as children can not travel alone or go partying abroad. Like the 'We Love This' mag, it also has a row informing the reader to buy a CD or to advise people why to buy this magazine including what is on the CD. It links to the contents page and magazine because the songs on the CD are very party like.

The other 'Mix Mag' contents page has the same layout this is effective as the readers that always buy this magazine don't get confused. The contents have sub headings that are categorical. The pictures are very bright and eye-catching, simple but effective. the target audience would be 17 to people in their early 30's and also includes a website at the bottom right of the page to show that the audience can visit their website. The date is also placed at the bottom of the page which is different as you usually find the date on the top of the page. Vertically along the page is the source of photos which shows who to the photographs and where the photos were found if they are secondary sources.

For 'NME' the actual contents is not the main attraction of the page in fact the main attraction is the pictures. With 8 pictures the contents is more visual. The contents page doesn't include the title of the magazine, instead it says 'Inside this Week' this shows that the magazine comes out weekly. Like in all the magazine contents pages the pictures come with the page number. This also comes with a 'subscribe' tab to give the reader the option to.

The 'Q' magazine contents title is illustrated with cartoons of 'Rock Wildlife'. It also includes the month and year but not the days the magazine is recent for. The target audience is 30 - 50 year old people as there are artistes like Madness, Adam Ant and Noel Gallagher. The 'Q Review' and this magazine are linked as they are made from the same company but different themed articles.

From this I have found ideas to use on my magazine, for example, I will use a dark background and bright text, I will layout my content like in the 'Mix Mag' but use more pictures, I will stick to a limited amount of colours to make it look simple but effective and not too over the top. I will probably use sub-headings like on the 'Mix Mag' contents page and put page numbers on the pictures to show the reader where the article is. Lastly I will put the title of my magazine on the contents page and the word 'Contents' underneath and include the date on my contents page, I will also use high quality pictures to make my magazine look professional and clear.