Contents Page Analysis

This contents page resembles one that would usually be found in a more well known/popular magazine which means that it looks very professional and stylish. The main reasons I find this to be a stylish contents page is because of the font that is used and the way the text is laid out, the photos that are used as I like the way they have pictures of what are on a couple of pages instead of it being very text heavy and also because of the colour scheme of black, white and green which I think was a good choice as it is not gender specific and is very neutral so it is not overwhelming at all and looks classy and sophisticated. However, a negative with this contents page is that there are no indications that it is a Cornish magazine but this isn't an issue as obviously it will say on the front cover of the actual magazine but this does challenge generic conventions of a contents page.

The target audience of this magazine is indicated by the style, layout, design etc and taking this into account I think it is definitely aimed at the older generations and certainly not any age under 18 as it is too text heavy for children, the font is quite small and the colour scheme is not bright or vibrant enough to appeal to children and hold their attention. Another thing that indicates the target audience are the images. A child is not going to want to read about painting and decorating or wedding dresses which are articles that the images suggest are in the magazine. Also the most obvious reason indicating the target audience is that regional magazines tend to 9/10 times be read by older generations as the type of things featured in them will not appeal to young people (this is a reason why I am creating my magazine to appeal to younger generations as I feel this is a very big gap in the market) and also because young people in Cornwall generally do not like living here as there are hardly any facilities to interest them, whereas older people are interested in the scenery and the farm shops etc so they are more likely to buy a magazine about Cornwall as they like it and it interests them.

The social grade that this page indicates it is targeted at is A-C as one of the features is a wedding which are generally very expensive and if you do not have a disposable income you will struggle to afford one, and it also features an image of a room in a house that looks very nicely decorated, designed and classy which stereotypically is usually what more expensive houses are like and it will not interest readers that do not have a house like this as it is likely to make them feel inadequate and 'poor'. People in social grade C may not have a house like this but they are likely to aspire to people who own houses like this (social grade A).

A feature on this page that goes against the target audience being the older generations is in the bottom right hand corner. This is a special code that is scanned by your phone that will take you to a website that relates to this magazine (likely to be the magazines own website). The reason this suggests the audience is not an older generation is because they have a stereotype surrounding them that suggests they are not good at technology and are likely to not know what this image is. There is also information on subscribing to this magazine via their website, another thing older generations are not likely to understand. Another feature that challenges the suggested target audience is the article that is represented on this page as an image of a young woman wearing a wedding dress. The target audience of this magazine are likely to already have had their wedding and will not relate to this feature as they are much older and are already married. This suggests that the magazine is trying to broaden their target audience and create articles and features that relate to younger generations.

It also suggests that the magazine has features for people of all ages and lifestyles which ties in with the uses and gratifications theory (Katz, 1959). This theory suggests that people take what they want from media such as magazines which means that someone may just read this magazine purely for one feature in it because this is what they are interested in. The theory suggests that we do this in four ways: Personal Relationships which suggests we use the media to help us deal with other people, Indentity which suggests we use the media to help shape the person we are including our personality, interests and looks, Surveillance which means that we use the media to keep in touch with events and news stories happening in the world around us and Diversion meaning that we use the media to escape from real life and be entertained.

This contents page contains a lot more information than the usual contents page and has a lot less images. Most contents pages usually have 3 or 4 main images, the like the one below. This does give it a slightly unique feel however I feel it could look more professional if it followed the generic conventions of a contents page more closely. The reasons I think this is because of the colour scheme, the lack of images, the font and colour of the font, the background etc being quite bland and plain. The page opposite this that is also part of the contents page is just an image of sea crashing against a pier with the words 'contents February 2013' on. This does explain why there is so much text on this page and it does add a slight modern element to the page which differs it strongly from the one below. The main image of the sea stereotypically represents Cornwall very well and in an artistic way. This relates to the modernism era in which 'old fashioned' and classic conventions were rejected and replaced with more arty ways of expressing the content. 

The target audience for this magazine I think is people of an older generation aged 45+ as it is very "grown up" which I think is down to the lack of images. Things aimed at people under 25 tend to have a lot more images but this contents page is mainly text. A factor that challenges this is that a couple of the sections of this contents page suggest it may be for a slightly less mature audience as there is 7 pages of competitions. Competitions are usually found in women's weekly gossip magazines and children's magazines these types of magazine usually appeal to a slightly lower class whereas this magazine looks like it appeals to a slightly higher class, as do most regional magazines. However, a generic convention of a contents page is to have a number of images that relate to the text on the page and this page does not follow this, this could be on purpose to seem more modern and unique or as it wants to appeal to an older audience.  The colour scheme used on this page is something that makes it seem like it appeals to an older audience as they are quite dull and dark colours with no bright colours at all, something that you do not tend to see in a magazine aimed at a younger audience. 

The layout of this contents page shows that there is only one image which is used as the background of the whole page. If this contents page was aimed at a younger audience, there would be more images in order to excite them and attract them. Having only one image makes this page easy on the eye. This may be because stereotypically, older people have difficulty seeing things so a magazine aimed at them is likely to make it easier for them to see it. This is also shown through the way the information is separated into different sections as it makes it easier to find which article you want to read. However, a convention that challenges this is the very small text. The text differs in size depending what section it is in, the 2 smallest being competitions and regular sections. This shows that they also think that the competitions are the least important part of the magazine and is not likely to appeal to the target audience. It also shows that the magazine, despite the fact that the reader is likely to have already picked the magazine up to read, is still trying to get the audience to read the features that were advertised and teased about on the front cover as the text in the features section is larger than any other sections on this page. 

The use of typography on this contents page is different to that of the contents pages above this one and below this one. The main difference, that you notice straight away when looking at the page, is that there are a lot of different sizes and font choices. This makes the overall contents page look untidy. None of the typographic styles on this page follows on from fonts used on the front cover which means there is no sense of familiarity for the reader and that there is no brand image being created. However, there is a sense of familiarity as the lexis on this page will page lexical choices on the front cover as features and articles advertised on the front cover will also be on this contents page. This challenges stereotypes because this magazine is aimed at audiences who fall into social grades C-A as these are generally the grades that people aged 45-60+ fall into as by that age they are likely to have a well-established career and a large disposable income, so they are stereotypically likely to want a product that is neat and clear in their brand image. However, if I did not have any knowledge of the typical target audiences of regional magazines, I would suggest that the target audience of this page is people in social grades C1-D (the "social norm" - Gandal (2007). 

As the magazine I am creating is both of the regional and fashion genres, I felt it would be helpful if I analysed a fashion magazine as well as a regional. This contents page is from Company magazine and similarly to the feature spread it is a 'messy' style and has a layout and typography that is similar to what a diary may look like for instance, the typography at the top is similar to handwriting. Another aspect that adds to the diary feel is the white background which is the most used colour of paper. This is a convention I am considering using in my magazine as it creates a more personal feel which will make the reader feel involved in the magazine and as if I am talking directly to them. Another feature that adds to making it feel like a diary is the size of the overall magazine. They have used an A5 size which is generally the size of personal diaries and journals, unlike most magazines who use A4 sized paper. 

The features that are most exaggerated on this contents page are the images at the top that also have their page numbers on. This is so that the readers attention is drawn to these as this is what the magazine wants you to read and it is also likely to be what the reader is mainly looking at the magazine for as these are 2 of the main feature spreads. Another reason for the contents page drawing your attention to these 2 images is that they contain 3 good looking females (who also act as the star vehicles on this contents page which means it this magazine is already likely to draw more readers in because it will draw in the fans of these star vehicles as well as the usual readers) that the audience of this magazine are likely to aspire to and the creators of this magazine know this, implying that the editors have a close relationship with their target audience and know them very well. This is also so that the magazine can make sure that they attract the right audience as if a reader saw these images they would know if they wanted to read on or put the magazine down, readers that read on are the correct audience.

The poses that the 3 women in the images are doing are ones that give them a sense of superiority and makes them seem like they are higher beings than the audience as the audience do not naturally pull these poses in everyday life and photos, which will make the audience aspire to them even more by thinking that they want to be able to naturally pose like them. The pose that the female in the right hand side photo is doing makes her look elegant and very feminine which are other connotations the audience of this magazine are highly likely to want to carry. She is also wearing a lot of make up and an outfit that shows off her skin which are stereotypically key aspects of  femininity. The colours of these 2 images match the colours of the text box on the right hand side and the colours of the text box at the bottom. 

A generic convention of magazine contents pages is to have the name of the magazine rather large on the page, this one however does not have it anywhere apart from in the box at the bottom advertising a subscription to the magazine. This suggests that the magazine knows the audience do not need reminding as they are intelligent enough to know as it is obviously on the front, it also suggests that they do not need to brag about who they are as it is the content that is most important (unlike Vogue) which suggests that Company magazine know they are not as high-end as Vogue and do not have a name big enough to brag about. Another thing not having their name on the contents page suggests is that they have a very consistent and regular audience so they are likely to know just by layout and the typography what magazine this is. The magazine is also likely to use the same style of language (for instance, 'fab' instead of 'cool') in every issue which means as the regular audience is exposed to this, they will start talking like this as well which is a prime example of the media having strong impacts on the lives of their consumers. This is summed up by the theory that media reinforces certain attitudes, lifestyles and personalities through repetition. 

This contents page is very different to the other 3 I have analysed in all areas such as colour scheme, layout, how professional it looks etc but it does link to the one above because I feel this should've followed the generic conventions more closely aswell to gain a more professional look. The main difference is that is just has a plain black background with no images at all. I think this has been done because the font colour is yellow so together symbolise the colours of Cornwall as they are black and yellow. I am not entirely sure what type of magazine this is as there are no indications without seeing the front cover, except of course by reading the text which is an indication of the target audience. I think this was designed to appeal definitely to the older generation and also to people of a certain lifestyle, when you compare this one to the first one I analysed you can see that they are aimed at completely different types of lifestyles, this one to a person who is more interested in the political and traditional side of Cornwall. This page gives no indication to what this magazine is so I do not know if it is a typical regional magazine or one just given to councellors etc (because of the colours that represent Cornwall, the image at the top of the page, the way it is set out - very different to the typical contents page of any genre of magazine). The target audience for this magazine is likely to be a niche market. One reason for this is that there are no teasers on this page to try and draw an audience in to reading further through the magazine. Another indication is that it says at the bottom 'published twice yearly' and if it was a popular magazine directed to a mass audience they would publish it more often than this. This is like no other contents page I have seen as it follows none of the generic conventions of any contents page no matter what genre.