Conventions of a Magazine

Purpose of the front cover

One of the main reasons for the magazine cover is to entice the reader!
The magazine has numerous functions to grab attention to potential buyers, which I am going to show you.

Masthead

The name of the magazine displayed in a specific typeface. This is the visual branding of the title and is often done in a specially designed typeface to be easily recognised and unique.

Tag Line

This goes near the masthead, and is sometimes attached to it.  It shows what the magazine is about or who it might be aimed at

Central Image

This is one of the most important parts of the front cover as it catches a reader’s eye before they look at the printed text.  The central image will be relevant to the magazine’s purpose and audience, and will often be strongly related to the feature article.

The Cover Model

For many magazines, a cover model will be used.  This may be a celebrity, or well-known individual connected with the magazine’s genre (e.g. a rock star posing for a music magazine); or it may be a photographic model.

Anchorage

 This is a term that refers to how images are referred to.  In magazines, images will be anchored by captions (directly explaining what the pictures depict), by coverlines, or by articles and headlines. 

Secondary Image

 They may be used on the front cover to help promote other features in the magazine, usually anchored by a coverline.

Cover Line

  These are located at various points on the front cover, telling readers about the magazine’s contents – and specifically, the articles they’ll find.

Mode of Address

Mode of Address refers to the way that magazines communicate with their readers.  Some magazines will use a direct mode of address, communicating with individual readers.  This might be through use of the cover model (e.g. pointing directly at the camera), or through the use of 2nd person pronouns (“you”).

Puff

 As in “puff of air”, this is a device which helps to draw attention to and promote certain elements in the magazine.  They are often set against colourful backgrounds and are shaped – e.g. rounded.  Quite often they advertise a “freebie” or a special feature in the magazine

Pug

  Pugs are the “ears” of a magazine and are placed at the top left or right-hand corners of a front cover.  They usually display a promotion from that magazine’s edition, or possibly the price

Barcode/Price

  Straightforward features, but they need to be strategically placed.  The barcode shouldn’t distort any of the cover’s principal features, and the price will usually be displayed nearby.

Colour

this is used to great effect.  Some magazines will alter all the colour schemes from edition to edition (masthead, coverline fonts, etc), while others will alter some colours to coordinate with the central image.

Font

Front covers will display a variety of font choices, usually adapted to infer meaning to the text they’re displaying