Conventions of a college magazine contents page

L - Language
I - Ideology
I - Institution
A - Audience
R - Representation

The conventions of a contents page in a college magazine are as follows:

• Page numbers - These are to show the reader what page a certain article is on with great ease.


• Main Heading - Would inform you of what you are looking at on the page. In this case it would be along the lines of "Contents" and "What's inside".


• Sub-Headings - Headings to show different types of contents in the magazine, i.e Regulars and features.


• Numbered Pictures - Located in the bottom corners of the pictures to inform the audience of where the image is featured.


• Contact Information - Located within the smallprint or, in this case, after the welcome speech.


• Colour scheme - Would be the same as the rest of the magazine.

The images used on the contents page cater for the target audience as they will see the images and see that the children, who they teach, are smiling and happy. These children connotate happiness and school being fun. This contents features a lot of ideology in the way it has a recycling logo, quite large, at the bottom of the page where the credits are. The colour scheme of this contents is pink/red and orange, with a neutral white background. The colours used are harmonising colours, meaning they naturally fit together. The page numbers overlapping the images are also a part of the colour scheme. The hand-drawn images on the contents page represent a childs drawing and connotates that the teachers should interact with the children and allow them to express themselves through drawing. This is also ideology. The target audience is primarily primary school teachers, but children may get to see this, hence why the designer has decided to use childish pictures instead of adult-orientated ones. The media language used on this contents page includes a large title dominating the top of the page, and two sub-headings, splitting the contents page in to two. The two lists represent what is always featured on the magazine, whereas the 'features' list, lists new articles which aren't usually on it. The images used are also placed on the right-hand-side of the page so it doesn't overlap any text, making the text harder to read. This magazine is following the conventions mentioned above, making it quite simple and easy to understand. I wish to gain the same effect from my target audience. One feature does, however, stand out. This feature is the large, yellow circle on the left hand side of the contents page. This stands out, intentionally, because it's an advertisement for their website and also includes contact information. This would be the way the magazine makes its money as the there is no sign that this magazine would have been sold in shops or even online. There's also the fact that I was able to download the magazine from the website stated, meaning the magazine must be completely free. This may be a bad thing as companies who make money tend to identify the target audience more effectively, whereas companies not selling their magazines for a profit, or at all, tend to rush the magazine and make it too simple. This magazine is a perfect example of a non-profit company as it has clearly not identified the target audience effectively and has catered for a wide range of audiences, which isn't the best of ideas.