Research: Contents 4 (CMP)

This magazine has an obvious grey/red colour scheme which is used to highlight every important heading. I don't really like how the contents page is only a single A4 page because it limits the amount you can put on it. On the adjacent side there is a list of getaways people can enter to win (but that isn't really relevant since it isn't on the actual contents page).

There are four parts to this contents page clearly indicated by the words "Features","Reviews","Regulars" and "Charts" which are enclosed/layered above grey banners. The colour grey isn't really the best to use if you want a magazine to stand out, as I have found out from my research. I haven't seen a magazine that has really stood out for me that uses this light grey colour. The white writing isn't really the most effective over the grey background since it diminishes the text and makes it look smaller. If I were to render anything on this page it would be to completely change the colours used. Even the brown/red isn't bright so it just makes it look frail and unimportant, in contrast to the joy of light red or the vigour of blood red.

The photos are all located towards the right hand side of the page and are actual screen grabs from the double page spreads within the magazine. This could be a good idea as it shows the reader exactly what they want to look for when they scan through however it seems quite unprofessional and lazy to just use the same images. It would be much more creative to use new pictures which no one had ever seen before and I think people would find it fascinating to see photos from an actual photo shoot.

Under the "Features" heading there are brief descriptions of what the articles are about to see whether that story would appeal to the reader. The page numbers are bold, dark grey and sans serif which ties into the synergy of the magazine as this theme reoccurs on every page of the magazine. By being a darker than the rest of the colours on this page it really helps the reader to see what they are looking for.

Overall I definitely (hopefully) don't think my contents page will look like this one as it is way too bland and didn't grab my attention at all.