Textual analysis of the content page

Here I'm presenting my brief analysis of a contents page in order to improve my understanding of it and create a better magazine myself :)

Here are some bullet points of what can be seen on this particular content page from the Student ID magazine:

- This contents page is divided in three columns and each column presents different things.

- The 1st column is the letter from the editor of this magazine edition.At the top of the column there’s a mid close up picture of the editor, which is useful because then we have a slight idea of who she is. In her letter she addresses to “dear all” which means she is talking to anyone who might be reading this magazine, therefore she is involving the audience. Her language is quite informal as she uses the words like “stuff” or “newcomers”, this language helps her to be on the same level with the students as the colloquial language is more prioritised by the students.

- The 2nd column contains the actual headings of each chapter with page numbers near it.The font of the page is easy to read and the size of the letters is average, there’s a space between each line therefore it’s easy to focus on each of the heading. The name of each chapter is intriguing by asking the audience or question or shouting a shocking statement.

- The 3rd column presents pictures which makes it more visual and more entertaining.These pictures briefly describe each chapter and as we know it’s easier to remember an image rather than a text, they are more catchy.

Some of the magazines don't have a contents page like College Life magazine of St. Edmunds College which is really unusual, however it has advantages and disadvantages:

The strength of College Life is that the first thing we see when we open the magazine is the bright page full of important news of college, for example, presenting the new staff of the college. However, its not very useful as you dont know what is where in the magazine, and it might take time to find what you are looking for. Overall I prefer a magazine to have a contents page and the brief says I must include one in my student magazine.