Q Contents Page Analysis

These are examples of Q magazine's contents pages. They all have clear structure to their designs. Each consist of an obvious theme / house style; The red banner along the top, featuring the masthead, and the title 'Contents', each have a structured area for where the features are, varying from left to right.
They all have pictures, whether they are small or large, with a page number boldly visible. And each picture which is the largest on the page relates to the main headline of the magazine.

From this I can take inspiration for my own contents pages. I can take into consideration: The structured layout and the idea of having the largest image linked to my headline.

CONTENTS PAGE LAYOUT ( MUSIC MAGAZINE )

These are my contents page layout ideas. They have a range of different designs, with one on a double page spread, however they are mostly over one page, because conventionally contents pages are on one page. I will create a contents page similar to the single ones I have designed, but I will experiment with the double paged one.
My designs have the conventional banner at the top of the page with the masthead, issue number and date in, a structured layout for my features, and two or three places for images to go. There are several where the images are the main focus, rather than the writing. -That is taking inspiration from NME's contents page layout.
I have also created an unconventional design where there is one central image as the background, and writing on top of it. I think this would be a good contents page to follow through, although it is a basic design, I would have to use a photo that stood out to make the page effective.
On my double paged contents page, I have decided to incorporate my first design idea ( of one large image and a single column for my features )  with a more cluttered design. This should be the most effective one to create because it has two good designs coming together, and allows you to have your main image as your headline image, with also images of things that are also featured in the article. The double page design takes concepts from NME & MOJO's contents pages. 

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Conventions of A Contents Page.

>House Style: The font is kept the same throughout the whole magazine.
>Columns: Organising the contents page.
>Numbers: Tells you what articles the pages are on.
>Title / Contents: To show that it's the contents page.
>Structured Layout: Makes the contents pages easier to read.
>Caption: Described what's happening in the picture.
>Pictures: Images link to the articles in the magazine.
>Issue Number: Lets you know what issue the magazine is.
>Information: The information to what will be in the magazine.
>Font Size Variety: You can clearly see which is the title of the headline and which is the information.
>Categories / Sections: Organising features, makes layout clearer.

CONTENTS PAGE!

Double page spread.

There's nothing complicated with Paper Towns, not their concept or their music, but the Birmingham based band have certainly made themselves known in the music world. 
With their debut album being released, that is highly spoke about among critics and fans as '' one of the best and most anticipated albums of the year.'' and now with their current collaboration with 3 time NME award winning Psychedelic, it certainly seems that Paper Towns know how to get to the top and how to get what they want. 

The ''B-Town'' duo, have recently gotten the label  as one of the most talked about new bands, with their angst themed lyrics transforming them into a teenage lovesick soundtrack.

With their overwhelming success, with their first single, came the obvious question of what they would do for their next? Would they recreate themselves? Or would they stick to their original tones, with musical influences like The Smiths?

Rewinding 2 years, when Paper Towns were practically non-existent, they were doing minimalistic gigs, with practically no audience. ''We often found ourselves getting caught up in things.'' Lead singer Helen Denning went on to say. ''We found ourselves getting caught up in movements,  scenes that would influence our music, and things that sound ridiculous written down but to us, it really mattered. Being a sixteen year old duo at the time, no-one would take any notice. Who would?''

Fast forward two years, countless gigs, and hundreds of youtube videos,  to the present day, when Paper Towns have now released their second single. They stuck to exactly what they did best; a song about the trials of love. And to our delight, their second single didn’t become an inferior version to their first.
Although the song is no longer as unique, the duo's new album plans to release songs that are still hot and relevant, but refreshing enough to demonstrate their progress and maturity since their beginning.

While their lyrics have never been award winning material, Helen Denning saves that with  the passion that comes across in her voice, and from the experiences she's had with trivial things such as love, which makes them so relatable. [ It also can help to explain the recent collaboration Paper Towns had with Psychedelic, due to Helen having a '' rocky '' relationship with the bands bassist. ]
The simplicity of the two reflect in both their music and personalities. Helen has the writers ability to take the most simple words and fill them with undeniable emotion which make the two so endearing. The result is perfection. It’s obvious that they know what they’re good at, with Helen's vocals, Christians guitar  and the recurring  of themes of love and love not working out, it's seen to have become their trademark.

The duo use their music as what Christian describes as “couples therapy,” except for the fact that they're not quite a couple. ''People often mistake us for a couple, and we take it as the ultimate insult. We rarely get on and when we do we mark the day down on our calenders.'' He joked. ''No, she's like a sister to me. Without her, I would literally be nothing.''

They're marking this moment with a collection of gigs around the country, ending with their biggest in their hometown of Birmingham. With supporting acts such as Haim, and Palma Violets, it's looking like Paper Towns are being welcomed into the ''Indie Clique'' with open arms.


Their newest EP  ''Looking For Alaska''  is a soft, simple,  hypnotizing track that’s just what you would expect to finalize the album, but to fans dismay it's not featured.  But even with this miss, we're guaranteed that Paper Towns is going to come up big this year, and the album ''The Fault In Our Stars'' will without a doubt be the best album of the decade. 

My final front cover photos. ( MUSIC MAGAZINE )

These are my final photos for my music magazine front cover. In the first image I used a mid-shot with white lighting and a white background to give a professional look. I chose for them to stand in that position because it shows the closeness of the two. 

In my second image I used a head-shot of my model. She is biting her lip and wearing a shirt with spikes on the shoulder to give a rock feel to it and also presents my model with a personality. She is looking directly at the camera which is conventional for a front cover image.
My third and fourth image is of the same model, but is a mid-shot instead of a close up. The background is black rather than white with a orange glow coming from behind to give the pictures a different atmosphere.