VIBE CONTENTSAnalyzing TOC

Overview

Vibe is a US based Hip Hop culture magazine.

It often features some of the biggest names in

the entire genre, as well as icons and even

political figure. The magazine has a

basic, graphical look to it. It is very simply

designed and hyper modern, to reflect the style

of the genre itself. Their Contents pages are

relatively unconventional, in the sense that they

only figure one model. This is because the

magazine features 3 separate contents pages.

This contents was to advertise a feature on

Kanye West’s new album. The Rap icon had just

gone multi-platinum with his third album

‘Graduation’ and his follow up was highly

anticipated as well as highly publicized. Kaye

West is a figure head of the genre, hence why he

is such a main feature on this page. It looks like

a cover page, and that is mainly due to the

esteem of this artist.

The Background ‘V’Perhaps my favorite feature of this

table of contents is the ‘V’ that’s in the

background. This v is from the

masthead, and whilst being simple, it

means that the toc is instantly

associated with the brand image. The

‘V’ is graphical, and it adds and edge

to the page. It also directs the eye

towards Kanye West. This is important

because he is the main feature of this

issue and would be considered a major

scoop.

The contents is stacked and makes a

graphical touch. Again this blocky form

lends itself to larger pictures of artists.

It sticks with the Graphical style of the

magazine and means a consistent

masthead for the contents. I like the

idea of having a graphical mini-

masthead for this section.

The Contents logo

Editorial PillarsThe editorial pillars follow on from this

graphical classy theme. The fonts are

crisp and easily readable. But they still

link with the idea of the new designer

band of hip hop which has taken the

world by storm recently.

What I like

What I like most about this Contents is it’s

style. The dark monochromatic graphical nature

is bold and striking. The model shot of Kanye

west is very refined and crisp. The pose and

style matches the album which he is promoting

and the grasping hand is another slick touch. I

particularly like the light bit of red in the center

of the page. It is an unconventional layout but

the red dot acts like a hinge for all of the text.

The editorial pillars match the model perfectly.

The classic nature of his outfit, with a blazer

and shirt matches the serif font. The page itself

symbolizes the new modern Hip Hop image of

being crisp and refined.