Analysis of Edinburgh Napier Contents Page

Target Audience- The primary target audience for the Edinburgh College magazine is students of 16+ as people already at the University will read it but also people looking into going to that University will read it too, so this is who they will aim the magazine at. The majority of people reading this magazine will fall into the audience demographic at band A down to C1.

Layout- The layout of the contents page is quite simple with both pages clearly being split into two sections this makes it easy for the reader to look at all the information without it looking too busy. This idea of each page having two columns makes it all look confined showing the editors letter separate from the actual contents numbers and on the second page the images and other editorial information clearly separate too. This layout is also effective with the way that it makes the images link to what is on each page and almost making this look like a separate page within itself. This shows this information being in the centre so that the reader sees this as the most important for what they want to find out. This links back to the target audience as this age range are more likely to want to continue reading if they can find the information they want easily.

Colour- The basic colour scheme stays the same from the front cover with the use of red, white and black creating the professional aspect. Although this contents page does have the added detail of colour to link the certain pictures to certain page numbers within the magazine. Not only does this add a more aesthetic appeal with the extra colours of blue, green and purple it also works as a colour key to make it easier for the reader to know where to find certain things. This means that the reader only had to look at the colour the image is surrounded by to find out in a much quicker way where it is in the magazine. This is effective on the target audience as this age group are often busy doing different things at once so the easier it is to access the articles they actually want to read the more likely they are to continue reading the magazine. Also with the added colour features it gives another area of interest for the target audience.

Typography- The typography in this text is effective as all the fonts used are very similar to each other which makes the two pages flow together. This also makes the contents page less busy for the reader and therefore doesn’t look like an information overload. Also the use of different coloured text makes the page look more interesting while separating each part of the writing. This ensures that the reader can see where each different section is so that they can find out the information that they want to know.  This links back to the target audience because this age group want the reading in their spare time to be easy as it’s for enjoyment so by using the different colours it makes the amount of text look smaller so that the target audience are more likely to read it.

Images- The use of images is effective because although there are quite a few they aren’t overpowering and don’t make the page look too busy as they are set out in a simple layout that keeps them all confined to their space. Also the different sizes of images means that none of them look the same which keeps the pages looking more interesting instead of similar and boring. The images also work well as they give the reader an insight into what they will see throughout the magazine without them actually having to read, which draws their attention in meaning they are more likely to continue with reading the magazine. This again means that the target audience are more likely to continue reading the magazine as they would get more drawn in through the imagery rather than anything else.

Conclusion- Overall I think this contents page works well as it serves it’s purpose of giving the reader all the information they need before they continue reading the magazine without making it look too busy or overpowering. Although the use of colours and imagery does work well, I think it could do with some improvement. I think the overall contents page does look quite boring and doesn’t necessarily make you want to continue reading. Whereas analysing each aspect you can’t find much fault as they all serve the purpose that they should. I think the improvements that could be made would be to break the text up further and add in more colours or different sections so that it looks more interesting and inviting. This could be done through highlighting the major stories in the magazine that readers are going to want to look at which gives the contents a focus which is the main thing it’s lacking.