Contents page features

These are the features I have used for my contents page. I have split them into three sections - Features, Exclusives and Fashion. The feature section consists of the cover stories that appeared on my front cover. I mentioned things that I had recently seen mentioned in the media, for example, Kanye west and Kim Kardashian's engagement is something talked about frequently within my target audience. The exclusive section consists of the two important interviews mentioned on the front cover a double page spread done on the model of my front cover, who was made to be my main story. Mentioning R&B artists and top events that link to the music industry are under features. I added a fashion column because most artists also have a fashion line, linking the fashion straight to the music industry. All of my features have clear information that links back to what was mentioned on my front cover but in more depth.

Contents page comparison

The image on the left is my finished contents page, gaining inspiration from the Vibe contents page on the right. Making sure that I stuck to same scheme of my front cover I tried to duplicate the vibe contents page. I did this because Vibe is such a popular magazine, that if I followed the same conventions it would make my magazine popular within my target audience. I put my image on the left hand side over the big 'M'. Just like the vibe contents page my 'M' represents the name of my magazine - motion. Unlike the vibe contents page, the image isn't taking up the whole of the left hand side, there are more features and I have added an editors note with a signature. I wanted mine to be unique, so I added social networking sites at the bottom. With the Vibe contents page it is all dark colours, whereas I went with bright, noticeable colours that would stand out to my target audience. Adding the editor's note links me to my audience because they feel as though I have reached out to them; I also scanned in my signature to add a personal effect. I feel that with the vibe contents page the main focus is Kanye West, meaning that the text isn't as important. With my contents page I tried to balance them out by not having too much of one thing. I feel as though my editor's note takes up too much space and that more could have been added.

contents page text choices

For my masthead I used the same font as I had done on my front cover, although i used a different font to for the 'M'. I stuck to the same pink colour. The font for the 'M' was Jersey M54 - I print screened the font and then edited it on Photoshop, turning it from pink to black and making it stand out more. I did this by using the magic wand tool to take away any white background. I then used the eyedropper tool to choose the colour from my front cover and using the paint bucket tool changed the colour to pink. Once happy with what I had done I added effects such as bevel & emboss, inner shadowing, inner glow, outer glow and drop shadow. All these things making it brighter and much more bold. For the contents I used the font Old School united - also off of da'font, editing it in the same manner that I had done for the 'M' instead not adding an inner or outer glow. 

The font I used for my headings such as the features, exclusives and fashion, was Gills Sans Mt Ext Condensed Bold; at font size 46. Sticking to the same fonts I had chosen for my front cover because these are bold and easy to read. I also wanted to keep my front cover and contents page consistent, so that there would be a clear link.  

For the subheadings I kept the font style the same but changed the numbers to a size 30 font and the text to size 14. I feel making the subheadings purple will draw the reader straight to it because it is eye catching. 

For the text I used the same font style but keeping it at a small size 12. The font size was 12 because the research I had done had shown that the font sizes on the contents page is really small. 

Contents page colour choices

For my contents page I went for the same colour scheme as my front cover - I did this because my research showed that through out a magazine colours are kept consistent so you are able to link each page. I went with 4 main colours; the colours being Pink, Purple, Black and White. I first got these colours from my first model on my magazine front cover. The Purple and the Pink came from different parts of  her lipstick using the eyedropper tool on Photoshop I was able to sample the colour and use it for my text. The Pink was used to identify the most important things on the contents page such as the masthead and the Purple was used for subheadings.The more frequent text is in black, I did this so that I was able to differentiate the subheadings from the text; also both my models are wearing black so it was easy to make a straight link with those colours. At first my research had shown that red, blue, black and white had been the most popular colours. I was going to go with those because of my feedback, but they didn't link very well and had no relationship with anything my model was wearing. I later asked my target audience what they had preffered and this colour scheme was the most popular.

Contents page flat plan comparison

The image on the left is my flat plan draft and the image on the right is my final flat plan.

The feed back from my draft was said to have too much space, so I moved everything to the left and added more features. Originally I wanted my contents page model to be a boy, but during the construction I made it a girl.

I feel that my final flat-plan has more information than my draft and the features are more relevant, It is much clearer and easier to read.It also links well with my front cover. 

Contents page masthead choices

keeping my front cover and contents page consistent, I used the same font for my masthead. I went with the one that my target audience went with for my front cover, changing that fact that my front cover masthead slants to the right and my contents page mast head is straight.  

For the 'M' I asked around to get people's opinion on what they thought would stand out but not divert too much from my original font for my masthead

Contents Image choices

Below are the images that will potentially show up on my contents page; out of these I will pick one. These images were taken in my schools photography studio, where I used different lights and angles to capture my model. The props I chose where a gold chain, a long black fur coat and gold rings. I asked my model to portray Kanye West in the way she stands, so she put her hands in her pocket or held her coat open, to show of the various 'bling'. In all of the pictures taken I made sure that my model looked straight at the camera, to hold a direct angle of gaze. I adjusted the lighting accordingly to make sure that a shadow was never cast in the background. For the high angle shots I stood on a chair and placed the lights directly below my model so that the image wouldn't come off as too bright. For the mid-shots I zoomed in on the camera. I tried my best to link my model to my front cover as best as I could; so I got her to wear chains and black, just like my front cover model had. 

I showed my images to people from my target group to see which one would best appeal to them and this is the image they chose. It was chosen because of the way her head is titled up, the lighting on her image and the fact the the jewellery is on show.