1. Magazines

2. Purpose The cover of a magazine serves two important functions: it grabs the reader’s attention and previews the contents of the magazine. The cover is the most important selling point and if the reader is not hooked, then chances are they will not be tempted to buy the magazine.

3. Types of text Covers attract a regular reader’s notice through the use of an easily recognised logo. Non-regular readers or new readers are more difficult to attract and are therefore heavily influenced by the cover. Unusual or shocking headings, celebrity profiles, bright colours, interesting fonts, free products and competitions are all used to encourage the reader to pick up the magazine. The cover must also accurately present a hint of the magazine’s content. The editor needs to carefully select only ten or twelve headlines from the thirty or forty articles inside the magazine. They must resonate with the target audience within the seconds it takes to run their eyes over a stand full of glossy magazine covers.

4. Structure A masthead that contains non-changing features such as the magazines title and price. A logo A motif that identifies the theme, such as the kangaroo peeping out from the Australian title. A feature photograph or drawing that takes up most of the page. Small photographs/drawings advertising specific features. A main headline. Subheadings which preview some of the feature stories. Bold or highlighted announcements of competitions and quizzes, posters, maps and lift-out sections.

5. Language features A short simple title that is easy to remember E.g. She, GQ, Hello A short statement of the magazine’s main theme is sometimes place directly underneath the title. Catchy headlines that make use of alliteration. Short direct headlines that often use noun groups. Rhetorical questions to confront and involve the reader. Rhyme, such as He’s hot. He’s not?, is used to create an upbeat mood. Puns (plays on words) are used to create catchy and appealing headlines.

6. Visual features A glossy full-colour cover. An easily recognised masthead containing the name of the magazine and date of publication. A close-up feature photograph. Titles of feature articles in a variety of colours and fonts, often bordering the feature photograph or drawing. Highlighted text and large print for the headlines of the most important articles. A well-balanced and pleasing colour scheme that pulls the cover together.