Conventions of a Magazine

Today in class I learned about the conventions of a magazine. Different conventions of a magazine include a masthead, tagline, central image, cover model, anchorage, secondary images, coverlines, puffs, modes of address, pugs, barcodes, prices, edition, font and also the use of colour.

The masthead is displayed at the top of the cover and is the name of the magazine. The masthead must be relevant to the magazine to draw peoples attention and to also inform the reader of the type of magazine. For example, a football magazine called Four Four Two is appropriate because it is the usual formation of a football team.

The tagline is a short sentence, usually near the masthead to provide more information about the magazine itself. It is not related to the particular issue but about the magazine in general. For example, the tagline for Heat magazine is, 'this weeks hottest celebrity news'.

 

Another essential convention of a magazine is the central image. The central image is very important because this is the most eye catching part of the magazine cover. The reader will most likely look at this first before reading any text, so it is imperative that the central image is relevant to the purpose of the magazine. The central image may also be strongly related to the feature article.

The central image may well be a cover model. A cover model may be a well known icon or celebrity the is in relation to the magazines genre or topics. However magazines may also choose a photographic model of their choosing.

We also learned about anchorage. Anchorage is a term that means how an image is referred to. Most pictures in a magazine will be anchored by a caption, headline, articles or coverlines.

Other things that may be included on the cover of a magazine is a secondary images. This is used to show other things that are included in the magazine, such as other articles, these are usually anchored by a coverline. A coverline tells the reader what they will find in the magazine and what the articles are about. They are located at various points on the magazines front covers.

Magazines may also choose to use different modes of address. Magazines can choose to use a direct or indirect mode of address depending on the message they are trying to communicate with the reader.

A puff draws the attention of the reader and promotes certain things in the magazine. They are usually a different colour from the background and the text is most likely in a shape for example circle or star. Pugs are another promotional feature of the magazine and are placed in the left and right hand corners. They can contain either the price or the a promotion for that edition of that magazine.

Barcode, price and edition are an essential part of a magazine even though they are a very simplistic feature. They are strategically placed as to not cover any of the main parts of the magazine.

The use of colour is very important on a magazine. It can vary form edition to edition. However, some magazines may choose to stick to a house style to make there magazines identifiable.

Font is also another important stylistic feature of a magazine and is usually used to convey menaing into text.