3. Masthead
The name of the magazine
displayed in the typeface in
which it is designed. This is the
visual branding of the title and is
often done in a specially
designed typeface to be very
recognisable and unique. The
masthead is usually used on the
contents page inside as well as
the front cover, and as a logo for
advertising and branding
purposes
4. Dateline
Month and year of
publication, often with the
price. Note that a monthly
magazine usually hits the
news-stands the month
before the cover date
5. Main Image
In the case of this front
cover there is a single
image of the singer Mariah
Carey. The image is used
in a classic way, the face is
big enough to stand out on
the news-stand, with the
model making full eye-
contact
6. Cover lines
(Puffs)
Cosmopolitan magazine
uses a lot of cover lines,
which are distributed
around the main image
without detracting from it
too much. A mistake often
made with cover lines is
that they run over an image
that has a lot of colour
changes, rendering the
words invisible.
7. Main Cover line
This is large - taking up
almost a fifth of the
magazine cover - and
comes in three layers,
each with a different
colour. It promotes the
‘Amazing real life
stories’.This is the first
things that captures our
attention after the image.
Therefore it is a major
component of the success
of the magazine.
8. Magazine codes and conventions
Magazine front covers always have strong generic
conventions:
• Price, barcode and issue number/date
• A photograph relating to one of the featured articles
• A recognisable masthead
• Various plugs and puffs on the front cover to entice
the audience to buy the magazine
• A thematic link between the colours and the type of
magazine or time of year
25. Some Golden Rules
“Young is better than old.
Pretty is better than ugly.
Rich is better than poor.
Movies are better than music.
Music is better than television.
Television is better than sports……
and anything is better than politics.”
Dick Stolley (1974)
(‘And nothing is better than the celebrity dead’)
Added 1980
