GENERIC CONVENTIONS OF MAGAZINES

Bilal Ahmed

Front Cover

Masthead - usually at the top of the page. This is the ‘brands image’ of the magazine and will make it instantly recognisable for your audience.

Cover lines / Tag lines – are the main text on the cover they advertise the articles that are inside of the magazine which entice readers to get the magazine.

Date and Barcode – the barcode is used for stores that use scanners i.e. Tesco, Asda and WHSMITH recent new barcodes now also have websites on the barcode. When the customer picks up the magazine and want to look at the price they will also see the URL of the magazines website.

Central Image – the central image is most of the time a well known artist, of a shoulder shot or sometimes group photos depending on who is on the front cover.

Strap lines – usually placed on the top, bottom or the side of the magazine. This magazine uses a strap line on the side. A strap line is usually highlights stars in the magazine or interesting stories.

Promotions – promotions are used in magazines to advertise competitions which some people may enter where they can win big prizes. Again intrigue people to buy this magazine.(This magazine does not use any promotions)

Contents PageMasthead – This is just the masthead of the contents page XXL have two sides of a contents the a-side and the B-side, both exactly the same just a different index and main image.

Main Image- The main image is of Chris Brown a well known artist, he has got very fashionable clothes on (longshot) he has got his hood on and is wearing a leather jacket.

Date and logo – The date is placed on the header on the right side. Also on the right side the logo of the magazine is placed there in a smaller format, so even if your not able to identify what magazine it is the cheeky logo in the corner solves the problem.

Quote – There is a medium sized quote in the middle left of the contents page, the quote is normally a saying that the artist of the main image will say. And it gives in sights the article about Chris Brown could be about

Headings/ Summary Of Contents – 5 important features mentioned on the contents page, the most important information is highlighted in bold. And if the reader is interested they have the subheadings beneath it for the reader to carry on reading.

Color Scheme – This particular magazine contents page follows the color scheme of the front cover all the way through, the front cover consisted of colors of black white and red, which the contents page also has. These colors when put together gives the magazine a clean and professional look.

2 Page SpreadMasthead – This is what the article is about, it identifies the article.

Main Image – The main image on a 2 page spread is normally bigger compared to the contents page, the image is the direct address which might want the reader to buy the magazine if they are flicking through and see this page, as they may recognize celebrities they know of.

Caption – Caption of the image gives the reader a better understanding why the picture is like that and also why so many celebrities are together.

Writers – Normally labeled as “By (Insert name here)”Indicating who wrote the article

Main Text – All text on the two page spread match the magazine design specifications. So every page in the magazine will look the same text wise.Page Numbers – This magazine does not have page numbers but magazines that do, page numbers identify what page you are on through out the magazine, sometimes page numbers are removed for pages which have advertisements