Conventions of a Magazine

On any magazine, you would find:

• masthead- this is the name of the magazine, usually displayed across the top of the front cover or in the top left hand corner. The masthead has a unique font so that it is instantly recognisable.
• dateline- this is the month and year of the magazine as well as the price and often the issue number.
• main image- this is representaive of the audience and of the magazine's ideology. It is always a single image and is always a medium close-up shot so that the model has the full cover and can make full eye-contact with the reader.
• model credit- this is the coverline, usually to go with the main image. It sometimes includes a quote from the article to grab the reader's attention.
• coverlines- there are usually several coverlines on the front cover, referring to other articles within the magazine but they cannot be too distracting as this will take away the effect of the main image.

In music magazines, the conventions are:

• the main image is always a band or an artist, relating to the target audience and the ideology of the magazine. As well as this, they always have full eye-contact with the reader to portray confidence and often intimidating.
• there are usually several quotes used as coverlines which refer to articles inside.
• there are usually lists of artists featured in the magazine on the front cover as coverlines
• nowadays, they usually give away a free gift such as a CD.
• the masthead is instantly recognisable. Fans of music magazines will be able to recognise them, such as Q magazine uses a white Q on a red background and has done since it was first published.