The Codes and Conventions of a Regional Magazine - Contents Pages

I have studied the contents pages of several magazines in an attempt to understand the way they are put together and the rules and structures they follow:


Kensington and Chelsea

• Linear arrangement - Each section of text is aligned in it's own box to keep them separate and easily understood by audiences
• Serif sophisticated font used, subheadings for articles written in larger font than the extracts below to make them easily identifiable for the audience (uses & grats)
• Proper and interesting language used "Romancing the Stone", "The Jewel in the Crown", "Liquid Gold" etc... language evokes ideas of wealth and status through using words like "Gold" and "Jewel"
• Several images on the page - showing a wide array of different articles and fulfilling audience's cognitive needs
• Images are well lit and carry a golden and jewel toned colour scheme across them - brings about ideas of wealth and class (Barthes - connotations) that engage with the audience. The colours of the images also appear to tie in with the language used.
• Small extracts from articles to engage the audience, allows them to see what the article is going to be about (fulfillment of cognitive needs)
• Image of model in direct address with audience - establishing a connection (uses & grats), model is young and looks upper class/done up, perhaps to resonate with target audience 
• Grey-scale colour scheme, gives a sense of sophistication and looks professional, images stand out nicely against the background colours.

Chelsea Magazine

• Mostly linear arrangement, text in three columns (following conventional contents arrangement) but split into subheadings about what the articles are about, making it easy to access for audiences, fulfilling their cognitive needs.
• "Contents" title written in a large font at the top of the page on the left hand side to draw attention to it, the issue date is written underneath in a smaller font
• Serif fonts used, gives the magazine a sophisticated look, all text in black save for the subtitles which are in a light pink, article names written in bolder black font for easy identification and page numbers listed in bigger fonts
• A small introduction to each article is written below each title, this engages the audience and gives them an insight as to the contents of the article (fulfillment of cognitive needs)
• Multiple images used to demonstrate the array of articles on offer in the magazine (fulfilling the audience's cognitive needs)
• Elaborate and luxurious images used, all of them are well lit and carry connotations of wealth, class and status (eg. the resort, suit and wedding dress) which would resonate with the target audience
• Each image has the page number corresponding to the article it's taken from written in the bottom left corner in a white font to stand out against the photo, this helps audiences access the articles easier.

Surrey Magazine

• Split into three columns, the left hand column dedicated to photos, the middle to the text, and the right to an advert. This conforms to the typical layout of a magazine contents page in the sense of it being in columns but also rejects it as the columns are not made of text. 
• "Contents" title written in a larger font at the top centre of the page to draw immediate attention to it, the date of the issue is written underneath in a red bold font to stand out. 
• A sans-serif font has been used for the majority of the text on this page, perhaps reflective of the magazine's efforts to appeal to a younger audience. 
• The contents list is in a neat linear arrangement in the middle column, the article names are written in bold to make them easily accessible and attract the audience's attention (fulfilling their cognitive needs), their corresponding page numbers are listed to the side of them in red to stand out to audience for easy reading
• There are several images on the page to show of the array of articles in the magazine (fulfilling the audience's cognitive needs) 
• The images all carry a theme of wealth and luxury (cars, awards, a pool) and this could be in an attempt to relate and appeal to their target audience (Barthes - connotations)
• The advert featuring on the right hand side of the page is for a salon and has a similar luxurious feel as the rest of the images and it's red background works with the colour scheme of the page
• The magazine's logo is at the bottom of the page with some contact details, the logo is made quite big and this helps to establish the brand with the reader

Sussex Life

• The set up of the page is somewhat unconventional as while it is in columns, the text only makes up one to the left and the other column made up of images.
• The title "Contents" is written in a larger font in orange to stand out to audiences attention on the top right side.
• The name of the magazine is placed at the top of the page on the left to establish the brand with the reader.
• A sans serif font has been used perhaps, to relate to a younger audience.
• The text is aligned from the left hand side and categorized into subheadings (written in different colours to stand out) corresponding with what the articles are about making them easily accessible for audiences (cognitive needs) the page numbers are listed next to the titles of the articles in a bold font to make them easily identifiable.
• The language used in the text is very "normal" and the sort of language the audience would use "beauty" "perfect" etc... and so establishes a relationship with the reader as it is language they associate with. 
• More than one image used, demonstrating the numerous articles inside
• The split between the images and text is uneven and the focus is predominantly on the images, this could be to grab the attention of the younger audience who stereotypically would have less interest in reading the text
• There are long shot images (allowing the audience to feel a part of the location - uses & grats) and close ups (establishing connections with the audience and providing instant recognition)

Codes and Conventions for the contents page of a Regional magazine:

• Text aligned in a neat linear arrangement
• Multiple images used
• Bold large title to the page to establish that it is the "contents"
• Clearly aimed at younger, sophisticated audiences
• Both serif and sans serif fonts used to establish both sophistication and an attempt to connect to younger audiences
• Undetailed white or grey scale backgrounds
• Typically black text used, occasionally brighter colours for headings to draw attention
• Page numbers for articles listed alongside their titles - following the hegemonic norm