Title
o Usually one word or letter long
o Positioned in the top left of the cover and is the full width of the page
o Has a unique font
o Is the largest text on the cover
One Main Image
o Usually a person or group
o Usually is a medium close up
o Direct address – Looking at the reader
Main Cover line
o Anchors the meaning of the main image
o It’s the largest cover line on the page
o It is usually two lines, For example Glastonbury
Reborn
Other Cover lines
o Two or three words – Few words as possible
o Information about the contents of the magazine
o Used to tease and intrigue the audience
o Cover lines not always straight forward
Typography
o Consistent
o Only few font are used
o Either Serif (with hooks) e.g. Times New Roman, or Sans(without hooks) e.g. Arial
Other Codes and Conventions
o Positioning Statement, by the title
o Masthead which is the issue date, price and date
o Puff, something for nothing usually free for the customer e.g. Poster Book
o Barcode, on the front because adverts feature on back page
o Colour Scheme, Few colours and simple
o Buzzwords, e.g. Exclusive
Codes and Conventions of a Contents Page
o Use of Headings to divide up contents
o Editorial Letter Picture and signature
o One large image and smaller images
o Consistent Colour scheme
o Page numbers on pictures anchors image to written content
o Laid out in two or three columns
o Subscription details
o White Background
o Title of Magazine is Repeated
o Issue date
o Word ‘Contents’
o Page number, followed by Title of article and sub line which is smaller text about the article
o Regular Content- features every issue
o Features- once only article
o Bottom of page- Page number, title ,issue date and website address
o Contact details- address and phone number
PLANNING
This is my sketch of the front cover of my School Magazine
This is my sketch of the contents page of my School Magazine
PRODUCTION
Photos taken for Preliminary Exercise
I used this image on my front cover
I used this image on my contents page
I used this image on my contents page
I used this image on my contents page
I used this image on my contents page
FINAL PRODUCT
Evaluation
For my magazine front cover i used the program adobe photoshop. My front cover follows most of the codes and conventions of a magazine front cover, such as the title being one word long, the whole width of the page and how the main image anchors the main cover line. For my magazine contents page i used the program Quark Express. My contents page is clear, simple and follows the codes and conventions. It is split into regular articles and features of the magazine, it also contains images of the articles in the magazine. I have used these codes and conventions to create my own school magazine cover and contents page which i think is affective and suits the purpose and audience.
When using photoshop to create my front cover magazine the program meant that i could crate a unique font type for the title of the magazine. I am familiar with photoshop and therefore found it easy to use. However Quark Express which i used to create my contents page was a new software package. The program is specialised to create contents pages and therefore allows us to make columns which is in the codes and conventions of a contents page. Even though i was new to the software i found it easy to use and therefore was able to create a well designed contents page.
