Now that I have looked at the conventions for front covers, I need to try and research conventions for magazine contents pages.


The main conventions from this contents page are...

• A masthead containing the title 'Contents'
• The date-line so that the reader knows which edition they are reading
• The contents are divided into columns, with page references
• Photographs are inserted into these columns, with a reference to which article they are related to
• Divisions within the contents, which shows the different sections of the magazine.

Although this is only one magazine, therefore I need to continue to research contents pages to make sure that I 100% follow the conventions of contents pages.

This magazine contents page is slightly different to the previous cover above, yet there are some similarities between the two. This magazine contents page includes...

• A masthead which contains the title, yet this magazine contains a photograph within the masthead
• Divisions within the magazine showing different related articles
• A main photograph which is related to a certain article
• Page numbers by every listed article

These two contents pages have given me a rough idea of the conventions that I need to follow already, yet I still think I need to continue my research and look at a couple more contents pages.

Here is another contents page. This page also follows similar conventions as the two above, yet it still has it's slight differences. Yet it still follows the basic conventions of

• Masthead
• Divisions with Sub-Headings
• Columns
• Photographs related to certain articles

This is similar to yet another magazine below, yet these magazines are not school magazines, therefore they may have a slightly different target audience which may affect the layout and style of the contents page, therefore I need to look at some school magazine contents pages.

This college magazine is more of the target audience in which my magazine is aiming at and it covers the same topic as the magazine in which I am trying to create.

The features of this magazine compared to the previous magazines in which I have looked at are as follows...

1. There is not as much text which covers the photo which gives the magazine a more calm appeal to it.
2. The photo is the only focus of attention on the front cover, therefore the target audience for the magazine is only for those who know of the college.

Yet the magazine still has similarities to the previous magazines...

1. The magazine still has a masthead which is the title which stays at the top of the page.
2. Smaller text is placed nearer the bottom of the page giving you a better knowledge of what is within the magazine.

This tells me that the target audience which I aim my magazine at will depend on the layout and the conventions which I use whilst creating the front cover.

The previous magazine has given me a general idea of the conventions for magazine front covers yet I need to look at more magazines to make sure that what I have seen before is the correct layout.

The two magazines below seem to follow the same sort of coventions as the magazine before, with the masthead and the photo, yet as I am trying to research about school magazines, their front pages may have too much on the and as they are aiming for a much different target audience as I am, I think I may need to look at some smaller, 'lower key' magazines.

These magazines attract their target audience through their big colours and huge fonts yet a school magazine is usually aimed at the parents to show how wonderful the school is, but it won't stand out as much as these two magazines below.

Before I try to design my own front cover for a school magazine, I thought I had better do some research on magazine front covers to see what the conventions are in order to make my magazine successful.

The magazine cover below has given me a start on the ideas in which front covers follow.

1. A Masthead which contains/is the Title of the magazine. This is at the top of the page.
2. A photo in medium close-up of the band in which the main article is about.
3. Just below the photo, large text briefly describing the main article.
4. Surrounding the outside of the photo, smaller text informing the reader about other articles within the magazine.

The target audience for this magazine is probably at teenagers, which a schoold magazine would be aimed at therefore this magazine is a good example to show the conventions of front covers but not at the target audience which I am looking for.