Table of Contents 2nd Draft: Decisions and Revisions

shiraavidan77
Apr 8, 2023
3 min read

Updated: Sep 2, 2023

After revising my cover, I continued to make revisions to my table of contents based on my class critique, already-published magazines from my genre, and any errors I discovered myself throughout the process. Unfortunately, I discovered that my table of contents required significant changes due to the spread containing several errors and unconventional elements. On the more positive side, I was successfully able to revise the spread properly, thus improving my table of contents' quality. The changes I made, along with the process and reasoning behind the changes are outlined below.

Table of contents Changes

The video below outlines the four changes I made to my table of contents.

Change #1 (Adding "COver of the month")

BEFORE AFTER

One of my peers, Lia, stated that the sections "Feature of the Month" and "Giveaway of the Month" were redundant and can be improved by simply writing "On the Cover." When I asked for her reasoning for this change, she said it was because the feature and giveaway are clearly both located on the cover. Thus, adding "On the Cover" would be more specific, not to mention, conventional since most magazines incorporate this section into their tables of contents as well. On the more literal side, the cover of my magazine is clearly located near these sections, so adding "On the Cover" is definitely fitting.

Change #2 (Alterations to recipe descriptions)

BEFORE

AFTER

As suggested by Sabrina, I decided to add another line on the "CAN'T be frozen" and "No-bake" icons to transform the original slash into an "X." I like this change because it makes it more clear to the readers that a certain kitchen appliance shouldn't be used in a recipe. On the other hand, a slash is less specific.

Change #3 (Changing font of image captions)

BEFORE AFTER

This change wasn't suggested by classmates, but I decided to change the image captions font from Athelas to Rock Salt Pro—a more decorative and distinct font. Originally, I thought using Athelas was a great idea as it matched the font of the article descriptions. However, I recently noticed that this font was used repeatedly throughout my table of contents, so I decided that it was necessary to change it. I picked Rock Salt Pro since it is a font that is part of my house style but hasn't been used throughout my table of contents yet.

Change #4 (Adding magazine name to footer)

BEFORE

AFTER

Thankfully, Wren suggested adding my magazine name near the page number, which I thought was a great idea. After all, most cooking, food, and beverage magazines add page numbers to their footers, meaning agreeing with Wren's feedback allowed my magazine to use more codes and conventions.

Change #5 (Changing format of page numbers)

BEFORE AFTER

This change wasn't directly suggested by my classmates, but it was inspired by previous feedback I received for my cover. As previously stated, the first change I made on my cover—suggested by Lia—was to add the word "page" on the icon that states the page of my main cover line's article. Therefore, to follow this style, I added the word "page" to every circle that states page numbers. I will do the same with my double-page spread!
I also changed the page number of my feature article, which was originally set at 40. However, since my table of contents spread (which starts on page 1) is on the left-hand side of my magazine, I thankfully realized that all pages on the left-hand side of my magazine must be an ODD number. Therefore, numbering my original page number as 40, which is an even number, did not make sense and created inconsistent page numbering! After I realized my error, I changed the number to 41. I will take this change into consideration since I will have to change the page number on my article as well.