Analysis of magazine contents page

1) NME

This contents page is from Kerrang, I think its striking because of its simple layout and original photo. The image to text ratio on this cover is about half and half. I think this is a perfect combination for a contents page as its not too cluttered but gets the information of what’s in the magazine across. The main image used is a mid shot. Mid shot are very popular with magazine covers and contents pages as they are quite safe, and not as daring as say a close up, which would be focused on the subjects expression or a long shot which would be focused on the subjects body language and costume or clothing.

The subject in the main image of this contents page is the lead singer of green day, this is obvious to readers who don’t recognise him as it states at the top of the page. He’s wearing a pair of stylish headphones which links in to his music and the magazine itself. He’s dressed quite casual and in ‘normal’ clothes such as a leather jacket and a scarf, this isn’t typical attire for rock stars to wear on photo shoots. Also he’s sticking his tongue out, this suggests playfulness and cheekiness, not something you normally see from a rock band member, so it subverts the stereotype.

The font on this contents page is very basic, it’s black, normal sized and not fancy or any particularly interesting font. I think they’ve done this to simply get the information of what’s inside the magazine to the readers rather than making as big deal out of making it fancy or colourful.