Conventions Of A Magazine Cover

Masthead - The magazine's title which is usually in the top left hand corner.

Images - Size: CU to med CU. Ranges from one main image to X amount featuring one main image and smaller images. Helps make the page look more interesting. It can add understanding of a story and/ or entice someone to read the magazine.

Left third - Graphics that take up the left third of the screen.

Cover lines - A caption on a magazine cover.

Sell lines - To exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent.

Barcode - A series of vertical bars of varying widths, in which each of the digits zero through nine are represented by a different pattern of bars.

Dateline - The latest time or date by which something should be completed.

Splash - The whole front cover.

Credit - A line acknowledging the source or origin of a news dispatch, published article or other piece of work and the author of an article.

Kicker - Something that kicks you into the magazine.

Teller - The subheading that informs the reader what the article is about.

Skyline - The line above the masthead.

Flash - Advertising something free to draw in buyers.

Graphology - The study of handwriting, especially when employed as a means of analyzing character.

Anchorage - The fixing of the meaning.

Colour Scheme - The colours used within the magazine.

Vocabulary - Language used to attract buyers.

Screamers - Catchy headlines.

The Brief

Preliminary exercise using DTP and an image manipulation programme. I will produce the front page of a new school college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium/ close up shot.