COVER PAGES

THE IMPORTANCE OF A FRONT COVER

The front cover of any magazine is the most crucial part of selling it; because if the audience doesn’t like the design, it will not get sold. Effectively, the front cover determines whether the brand succeeds

whilst also presenting the publications character and content. Also each issue of the magazine needs to be recognisable to the brand, regardless of the theme. For example, the magazine may be having a

special edition such as ‘25 Year Anniversary’ and have a unique design, but the audience need to be able to recognise it and pick it out

amongst many other magazines on the shelf.Furthermore, the theme will change with each issue (whether it be

weekly, monthly or annually). The celebrity on the front will vary, as well as the colour theme. However the magazine must remain

recognisable to the audience, whilst being interesting at the same time.

THE MAIN IMAGEAn image based front cover is the most common approach to magazine cover design. This image should be displayed as the

background of the magazine but the person featuring on it should be centred so that cover lines and tag lines can be displayed on each side.The person/sometimes a few people would be shown waist up, making

eye contact with the camera (so that the audience feels connected to them) and preferably smiling. This image should also be of high quality so it makes the magazine look professional. And official.

The person featuring on the front cover will usually have an article dedicated to them inside the magazine, which may encourage fans of the celebrity to purchase it. This means the magazine also appeals to a

larger audience.

THE MASTHEADMagazines are consumer good and like any consumer good they are brands and represent a certain company. The masthead of the magazine is considered their

logo and plays the role of making the magazine recognisable to the selected audience.

The masthead should capture the publications content, character and attitude whilst remaining versatile so that it can be used on other occasions.

The masthead of any magazine is on the top third of the page because in the UK, magazines are displayed in shops so the left third of the magazine is shown. This is

why ‘Q’ magazine has their logo at the top left. However in the USA they are presented in a waterfall display so the top third is the most visible. This gives the

reader a brief view of what the magazine will be like. Music Magazine masthead’s are all unique and no two are the same, this is because

different magazines appeal to different audiences which is why they are all designed differently.

Also the masthead short be short and catchy, this makes it easy to remember and recognise. It will stand out at the most important thing on the front page as it is a

one word title.

SELL/TAG LINEThe sell or tag lines are usually displayed above or below the masthead.They give the reader a brief view of what the issue will feature and this

promotes the magazine by advertising the exclusive article the magazine includes.

Usually sell lines include exciting vocabulary such as ‘Exclusive’ and ‘Special Edition’ and ‘Free’ or ‘Best ever’. This makes the reader feel

like they need to buy it or they’re missing out. Also by using sell lines at the top it makes it the first thing the reader

will see, which will make their first impression either positive or negative. Furthermore this powerful statement will be clear

immediately as marketing research suggests that an average person spend 3-4 seconds on average glancing at cover pages. This means the

sell line should be perfect and encourage the reader to purchase the product straight away.

COVER LINESCover lines are short statements found on the outer thirds of the magazine. They are short because the editors do not want to give away too much information about

what is inside the magazine, but they need to give a brief description.

Readers need to instantly spot the interaction between the words and the

pictures so they can decide whether what they are looking at is something that they

would be interested in.Some magazine covers only have a few

cover lines to keep the focus on the image, but others fill every empty space with

cover lines. It depends on the character of the publication for example, a Rock

Magazine front cover is jam-packed with information However a fashion magazine

tends to focus on the images.

MAIN COVER LINE

The main cover line is smaller than the masthead but slightly bigger that other

ordinary cover lines.The main cover line usually promotes

the main story featured in the magazine for example, the magazine showed on

the right.This cover line is bold and stands out

amongst the other colours and conventions in order to catch the

reader’s eye.

Main cover line

THE COLOUR SCHEME

The colour scheme is one of the most important conventions of the front cover. The colour scheme on a magazine has the potential to make the magazine look more professional than

it is or cheap.Also the colour scheme helps to add a certain type of genre and atmosphere that the magazine is trying to portray. In a music magazine, the colour scheme is used to portray the

type of musical genre, and targets the niche audience.The fonts need to be a certain colour as to fit in with the colour on the main image. Also colours need to create

contrast on the page as this would demand the attention of the reader as it would stand out amongst other magazines

on the shelf.

STRIPSStrips are featured at the top and bottom of magazines. They include things which the magazine contains such as below –

free posters.This intrigues the reader to buy the

product – which is ultimately what the consumer wants.

These are usually featured on magazines that are aimed at younger niche

audiences; such as the Pop Magazine on the left. This is because younger people

do not have money of their own to spend or many things to do in life so they like

the idea of free things or gossip.

Strip

BARCODEA barcode is a machine-readable code in the form

of numbers and a pattern of parallel lines of varying widths, printed on a commodity and used

especially for stock control.Barcodes do not contribute to the style or theme of the magazine, they are purely there to transfer data.A good magazine will always feature a barcode at the bottom (preferably right) of the page. This is

because it follows the ‘Z’ layout. This is the layout where the masthead/logo is featured on the top

(left) which is where the person first looks. Then the readers eyes go to the image and main cover

lines, and then down to the bottom right where the barcode will be.