This is contents page of Rolling stone magazine. The rolling stone magazine has a fairly old target audience which is reflected by the ridged shaping of the layout. It is easy to understand and read since everything appears to be boxed which reflects the target market who may prefer the calmer approach rather than be overloaded with information as is sometimes the case with magazines with younger target audiences. This is a very recognisable style and makes it clear to the reader what genre of music magazine they are reading as this clear layout is a convention of classic rock magazines.
Audiences can interact with this magazine by visiting the website and downloading music or viewing photos online.
There is very little colour on the contents which is uncommon of music magazines since the cover and contents pages are the first things the reader see and therefore need to entice the reader, but since the target audience of this magazine are most likely to be middle aged, they may prefer the simplicity of the colour scheme. Rolling stone magazine relies on its loyal audience to recognise the housestyle of the magazine since there are abbriviations that first time readers may not understand.
There is nothing on the page to tell the reader that this page is the contents page and to first time readers it looks quite confusing since there is nothing to guide the reader through. The numbers of the pages, however, are clearly displayed with a bold typeface which is the same as the subheading of the page.
The layout and colours of the page make it look as though it could be an old newspaper or broadsheet since it is mostly monotone and very ridgedly set out, a strong contrast to other rock magazines such as Kerrang! or Nme.
The typeface is consistant throughout the page and is very clear, easy to read and understand, even when in public such as on a bus or train. Keeping the typeface the same is a convention of most music magazines, in all genres.
The background is plain white which provides a sharp contrast between the black and pink of the text but also links into the white of the image that is in monotone.
Another factor of this magazine that is unconvential of music magazines is fact that it begin the story but then stops and tells the reader they can continue reading on a different page. This is generally a convention of newspapers which emphasises the image that the contents page is like a broadsheet.
Each of the images are captioned and tell the reader the number of the page that the image relates to so they can read about it if they wish. This gives the magazine depth and connotes the reader that they are getting their moneys worth from the magazine. Since this magazine is aimed at an older audience this is very important because they have less of a disposible income than younger audiences.
The main image connotes fun, in an old fashioned sort of way and may make the readers nostalgic and therefore wish to read on. Unlike most music magazines, there is no clear mode of address and the language used is very clear, standard english with very little slang. This, in my opinion isn't a very good way to entice readers to buy the magazine as it makes it seem very distant and therefore is difficult to relate to.
The main focus of the contents page is to show the reader where each feature of the magazine is and to provide the audience with an idea of what they will find in the magazine through the use of the images. The layout of the page connotes that the music genre is quite calm and may therefore appeal to an older target audience.
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