Analysis of a Contents Page

The contents page that I will be analysing is Glamour. Glamour is a fashion, beauty and gossip magazine that is aimed towards teenage girls and Women. This is the specific target audience because they are the people who are devoted to things such as: Fashion and beauty related topics.

On the contents page it contains a variety of different options which will intrigue the reader, as there is a drop-down column which gives the reader a chance to look at what the magazine will contain breifly before they properly look inside. This also gives the reader an opportunity to look at the article/topic that interests them the most on the column first. There are also inside scoops into the latest gossip etc. within the column which will attract the younger generation, as they enjoy things like gossiping.

The main aspect of the Contents page is the bulky photograph of Emma Watson, which is placed in the centre of the Contents page on the right-hand side. It is what will meet the reader's eye first, and explains to the audience that Emma Watson is the main article as she has her own large advertisement (feature article photograph). This advertisement contains a caption on the left side of the photograph, which gives the reader a rhetorical question advising the reader to reveal ‘Emma’s Style Secret’ which will intrigue them to find out about the celebrities secret, and beneath this quote, the magazine gives you the page number in brackets, explaining to the reader that this is the main article as they are advertising it heavily on the contents page with the image and the quotes, etc. This may attract the reader into turning to that page straight away, to see if it is as good as what the magazine has hyped it up to be with the advertising. The colour of the large photograph next to the quote is presented in Black and White, which suggests to the reader that the photograph was professionally taken, crafted and edited, which would appeal to the more sophisticated audience of Emma Watson and Glamour. The image is also in Black and White because it will not attract Women to the photograph as women do not want to see exposed women etc. This is the reason the editor has presented this in Black and White, so that it displays a plain, grey and dull colour which will not draw women to the image at a high extent, and focus more on what is behind it, e.g. her 'style secrets', which is displayed on this photograph, further explaining that this picture was specifically used to advertise her style, before the reader actually reads the main article ,to get an in-sight into what they will be reading about. 

The image also breaks up the drop down column/ text, with the image breaking up the text which suggests to the reader that the magazine contains more images than the text itself, and that the image is more important than the text. Although, there is not a lot of information in regards to this image, which will intrigue the reader to find out what the image/article represents, and what it is about.

The colour scheme of this contents page is:

- Pink
- Orange
- Green
- Black
- White

The colour scheme is attractive to women, however, it is presented in a mature way so that the colours contrast each other well. The use of the green and orange used on the title/masthead stands out on the page as it is luminous, giving connotations of the Autumn season which is upon us, as the magazine is the Autumn issue. The text colour 'green' symbolises and gives connotations of nature, etc. to represent e.g. the natural beauty products that they promote in their magazine and the orange symbolises the sun for bright, exposed inner beauty, which would include the models etc. which they use within their magazines. The colours distinguish well with the plain white background and give a sense of maturity and professionalism. The pink used suggests the more feminist side to the magazine, and also the fashion and beauty which is contained inside. On the contents page they use four colours which are more than enough for a content page as it is not the most important part of a magazine. If it contained extra colours then the contents page would be extremely bright, and there would be too much going on for the reader to focus on the main information which is given, and the useful parts to the page.