The layout of this contents page is set out quite differently to some other magazines that you would associate with music; I would say that they have set out things quite quirky, even though there is still quite a structured layout. This shows that throughout the magazine there will be a difference with how different things will be set out, for example images and copy. It could also show that even though the genre of Kerrang magazine is rock, they cover a variety of different rock bands and singers.
One generic convention that Kerrang magazine follows is the use of thumbnail images on the contents page. There is one main image, which would suggest that this is the main article appearing in the magazine and it’s what they think will attract the most people. There are then a few smaller images, which give you more of an insight into what else will be featured in the magazine. With these images, they have a page number next to them, but not all of them appear on the list opposite, this is so that they can include more on the contents, to give you more of an idea what’s inside.
The house style on the contents page doesn’t follow exactly the same house style from the front cover, as on the front page the main colours are red, white and black, where as the main colours here are black white and yellow. For the contents page, the house style always stays the same, however for the front page the same colours are not always used all the time. The main colours are black and white, which are colours that contrast and therefore stand out and are colours which you would often see rock bands wearing. I think the use of yellow helps parts of the contents page stand out, for example the important page numbers and the titles of different sections down the side and because yellow is a bright colour, it automatically attracts you to it.
The page numbers on this contents page follow the generic conventions of a music magazine. This is that not every page number has been printed, this allows the reader to scan through and pick out the main pages that they want to look to. The reason that magazines do this is because a lot of articles take up a double page spread, so on the contents page they don’t need to write both page numbers. Also, a magazine like Kerrang has a lot of pages and if they were to all be printed on this page, there would be too many to look at, so it’s important that they pick out the main pages. Finally, a lot of pages are taken up by advertising and these don’t need to be shown on the contents page.
The copy on the contents page follows the same style as on the cover, by the use of a bold black font. Black is a colour that would stereotypically be associated with the genre rock, but also as the background is white, there is a contrast in colours and therefore the text stands out.
Following generic conventions of any type of magazine, in the top corner there is a small, relatively informal section that the editor has written. This changes position in most magazines, so there isn’t one section on the page you would normally see it in. For Kerrang, they have used quite an informal tone when writing this and this is because that is the tone set throughout the whole magazine and it is what appeals to their readers and the genre of the magazine. It makes an extra connection when dealing with the target audience.
The contents page is divided up into pretty much half, with the top half focusing on the review of My Chemical Romance. This is not the headline, but is the focus of the contents page, as this is the next page the reader will look at when flicking through the magazine, acting in the same way as the front page, enticing the reader in. Just over half of the page is filled up with thumbnail images, and the text is split up into different pages, easily making it visible to the reader what pages the articles are on. The page also has a section for the editors note at the bottom left side, with an image of the editor just above, the text going down in a column with the editors signature underneath, making more of a connection between the reader and the magazine, and it shows an insight to the creators of the magazine.
The headine of the contents page stating ‘contents’ is in the left third, it doesn’t take away much of the attention from the main article that this page is portraying. Generally the images are separated from the text, but headings relating to the pictures sometimes overlap the image, making it clear which image it’s relating to. This appeals to the target audience for this magazine as it gives the page a rebel-like and rocky theme. By using the layout as half being a picture, and half being the columns with the features listed in, it means that this page does a similar job as the front cover of the magazine. Even though the picture of My Chemical Romance isn’t featured largely on the front cover, it’s the main feature of this page, so the contents page is promoting more features and showing the reader new things they can read inside that they didn't know much about on the front cover.
The main image features a popular and famous band of the genre of music (rock/metal) that this magazine is targeting it’s audience at, making it a good decision to use this image as it will appeal to the majority of it’s audience. The image of the editor helps the reader to engage with the magazine in a more personal form, and also draws their attention to the note, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have noticed the column of text written by the editor. The mise-en-scene of the vibrant colours used (green, yellow and black) compliments the rocky/rebel mood of this page, and means that it all fits in, rather than looking out of place for being in a clashing colour.
The colour of the Kerrang logo is also kept the same even though it’s next to yellow text in the same font and heading, adding fluency to the page, whilst also helping the heading stand out to catch the readers’ eye. In the bottom right there is a small advert for a subscription for Kerrang directly in front of a known band, connoting that the magazine is up to date and definitely worth buying because of how good the features and who the features are on are.
All of the headings on the page are in capitals, making the text stand out and seem really important, enticing the reader into reading that heading, and making them more likely to carry on reading the context underneath. The mini subheadings make it clear which picture they’re with, as well as the reason/who’s in the pictures being displayed. The colours that the text is in are in relation to the house style, e.g. the yellow text on the headings.
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