Contents Page - Ideas and Analysis of Others

The contents page of Vibe is spread over 2 separate pages - one page for features, and one page for "Departments," which is essentially the regular features of the magazine. There are several adverts between, before and after each contents page too. Personally, although these pages are professionally designed, I do not like the idea of having things between the contents pages. The magazine has a confusing feel to it because of the mixture of adverts, contents pages and actual magazine story's near the front. I would prefer my contents page to be on one page (maybe 2, but they would be next to each other!)

On each separate page, there is one main picture on the right side of the page, and the listings of the contents are on the left. The writing is small, but much like the front cover it varies is colour, size and format. For example, on the contents page with the features on it, the page number is black, the title is white and bold, and the description is white. Here is an example:

84 STORY OF A SHOOTING STAR
Since 17, De Andre "Soulja Boy" Way has
consistently crafted mindless jingles while
maintaining a touch of naivete. Now a
year short of 21, the tatted web fiend
comes clean for the first time about
his most lethal shots fired.

The other contents page (Listing the regular features) Has a bit more colour to it, almost a colour code for each section, with also a little symbol. The layout of each item listed is the same as the other contents page, except the page number has a colour, and about each section is a small symbol which is the same colour as the number. I think this is good because it keeps the same style, but is more interesting to look at, and it mixes things up a little bit to ensure the readers interest in these contents pages.

The contents Page on Mixmag is very different to the contents pages of Vibe. It has a very "square" style, with 1 square picture in the middle of the page, and one smaller image just above where (some) of the contents is listed. Several straight lines separate different parts of the page, for example a Line at the bottom with information about the free CD underneath it, and a line at the top which has "Mixmag December 2010 Contents" written above it. The style is much the same on the other page, but somewhat reversed - the pictures are this time in the middle and on right side of the page, with the contents listing on the left. Personally, I think that this page looks on a lot better than the first contents page, because your eye is naturally drawn to the left side of the page because we read left t right, but also to the right side of the page because of the pictures, which gives the page a good balance. However, on the first page, I found myself just ignoring the contents listing.

One thing that both magazines have in common is the varied font sizes and colours on the contents listing themselves. Much like vibe, mixmag sticks to a simple colour pallet, only using white and yellow to list its contents, with variations in front size, format and even the actual fonts. I think this is defiantly something I will do in my magazine, since it gives the contents listing or more interesting, but certainly not over-the-top look.