This is a photo of a magazine cover, which in pairs we had to annotate the conventional features that we noticed. Each convention is there for a reason, they serve a purpose and ensure the magazine is successful and informative, especially as the front cover.
Magazine covers uses different codes and conventions, these are:
MastHead- Is usually placed at the top of the magazine, in a large bold font. With the name of the magazine brand.
Cover lines- Is a headline on the magazine advertising a story/feature inside.
Issues/dates- Shows the date that the magazine was published.
Price/barcodes- Normally always on the bottom right of the magazine so that it is easily scannable, shows the price of the magazine.
Cover image-Is the image in the centre of the front page, the picture is usually of a person who will probably have an exclusive interview and a couple of pictures inside the magazine.
Selling lines- Are conventions of magazines which will get people wanting to buy it! An example of this is a buzzword, these attract the audience.
Insets- a small picture/map etc in the corner of a page or larger picture etc, which shows more detail or information.
Pugs- Conveniently named after pugs, due to looking like ‘pug ears’ they usually show the price, logo, promotion or even a freebie.
Plugs- Selling points of a magazine that are less noticeable than cover lines.
I found this task very eye opening, on a magazine there are so many conventions that as a reader you do not even notice. For example, when I look at magazines in a shop I do not realise that the cover lines are usually always to the left as they are stacked so that’s what you see. These little technicalities can be the selling point of a magazine, if they are not on show then the buyer won’t be attracted to and buy it, as they have no clue what is on the inside.
These features will be useful and impact the practicality and authenticity of my Music magazine front cover. I will look at:
- Colour
- Fonts
- Langauge
- Images
- Placements
I will also use Design conventions such as mastheads, cover lines, pugs etc… in order to make my magazine accepted by the audience.