Vogue Contents Analysis

Vogue's Contents page follows conventions because it incorporates the masthead onto the page. Unlike the cover, the masthead is written in lower case letters rather than capitals. Usually, the words 'contents' is written in a large font and the masthead is smaller; but this contents page only has 'contents' written small above the masthead next to the date. This doesn't make it as obvious to the reader as to what page it is; but the target audience is of an educated high class status so the producers would have thought that they are too intelligent to have to point it out. The masthead is written in black which is highly contrasting to the background colour so it stands out and is making a statement so that the reader cannot ignore it. 

In terms of the images used, Vogue follows conventions in that it uses an image of a model who is portraying the fashion world. The model used represents the target audience as she is a white female, and this is the primary audience for the magazine. She is wearing gold and silver clothing which links with the Christmas theme for the December issue. She is showing a lot of skin as there is little clothing that is revealing; this supports Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory. The model looks very glamorous as her hair is moving backwards and the lighting makes her clothing shine; this supports the target audience because they will have to be glamorous and wear shiny clothing for the christmas season and will aspire to be like her. There is only one large image used on the contents page; a medium shot showing the model's whole body. This allows the viewer to see her clothing and pose from head to toe. The image relates to the article 'Star Girls', which fits with her silver and gold shiny clothing that represents the star theme at christmas when we have a star on top of the Christmas tree for example. The model has been airbrushed so that her skin glows as well as her clothes. This will make the audience think that they should be like her and will be closer to knowing how they can be like her if they purchase the magazine.

As this is the contents page to the same issue as the cover I analysed, I can see that they have not used any images from the feature article on the cover. This shows that Vogue want their audience to look at different articles in the magazine rather than just focusing on the feature article. On other fashion magazines such as Cosmopolitan, images to promote and advertise make up brands and jewellery are used. However, the contents page shows that there are articles within the magazine that promote make up. This will make the audience want to buy the magazine because they will think that the make up that they are selling will make them look like the models that feature in the magazine, especially as they will want to look their best in the Christmas season.

The fonts used for the contents page are very similar to the ones used on the cover. A plain clean font is used for the main parts of the writing, but similar to the cover, a more decorative font is used for some of the description text. This decorative font is used because it is very feminine and therefore attracting the female audience. A more bold font is used for the headings on the page, such as for 'Fashion', 'Special Features' and 'Contents December 2010'. This is so that these parts of the text stand out against the other fonts used. One other light weight font is used for the headings 'Subscribe to Vogue' and for 'Cover Stories'. These parts of the text are written larger than the rest because these are are the most important headings on the page. A lot of the text on this page will attract the female audience because to do with make up and how to look your best for the party season; for example, one reads: 'Sparkle: How to do dazzling evening make up', which will attract the audience because they will want to have a similar appearance to models that feature in Vogue magazine.

In terms of the colour pallet, the range of colours is kept to a minimum. Other than the gold and silver used in the main image, the main colours are black, white and orange. This makes the page look simple, but the use of orange breaks up the black and white text making it look more interesting. Orange is probably used on this page because it is a vibrant power colour and it connotes harvest and food which is a big topic for the Christmas season.

The layout of this page is very simple but does fit it's purpose in that it shows the reader what page the articles are on. It has a sense of sophistication with the clean fonts and columns as it follows an order. The only image used covers over half of the width of the page but ends at the top so the masthead can overlap it slightly. There is a column on the right that shows the fashion articles as well as the special features, and one on the left that overlaps the image and shows the cover stories.

As a conclusion, I think this is a sophisticated design for a contents page, although it doesn't have a very creative layout of colour scheme. The fonts used on the page make it more interesting to read, which is something the layout and colour do not do. I would like to use similar fonts on my contents page, but would like to be more creative with my layout. Overall, the contents page serves it's purpose with class and sophistication, but it very simplistic.