Analysis of Contents Pages - Mixmag

This contents pages is taken from Mixmag, a British dance music and clubbing magazine. It styles itself as 'the world's biggest selling dance music magazine'. The contents list is aligned to the left-hand side of the page. Also there are subheadings being used. An example of one of the subheadings is: 'Regulars'. This is a very good thing to have on a contents page because it saves the reader time and helps them find what they are looking for quickly and easily. 'Regulars' is a good subheading to have as this means that these are the things that are features in 'Mixmag' every time it is published. So, regular readers will be wary of these articles.

The layout on the page looks and seems very modern. There are three images used on 'Mixmag's contents page and they are all three different size which adds to the magazine's modern edginess. Also, 'Mixmag' have linked the pictures that they have used on their contents page with the articles that are further inside the magazine. I know this because at the bottom of every picture there is a number and this must correspond to a page number. This acts in a similar way to the subheadings on the contents page: it saves the reader time and helps them find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

The main colours being used are black, white and a reddish purple (with the exception of yellow, which is used in the title). The background is white which is good because then the text, images and any other items on the page stand out and become clearer. By the title having a different colour this also makes it become more noticeable, which is a good thing because a title is a key item you need on your contents page when you are considering making a magazine.

Various fonts are used on this particular magazine cover and I think that they all tie in with the magazines genre, dance music, which is another good thing. The numbers for pages that have pictures with them on the contents pages look very retro and they remind me of the 'Top of the Pops' font they used. The title and the subheadings have the same font, so there is a certain style and particular layout through out the page. Also bold is being used for the titles of the pages in the contents list, this is good because they are now clearer.

Overall, I like how the images look on the page and how there is one side for the pictures and another side for text, it makes it look modern and neat. Also, font and boldness would be a good thing to have on a contents page to make the text that has the most important status apparent. I would have to pick a font that links in with my particular genre though. Finally, I like the use of a white background, because as I have said before it makes everything on the page now become visible. However, I think more colour could be used on this page as it looks rather plain and the contents page is the first page inside the magazine you see, so it need to grasp the readers attention.