PURPOSE OF A MAGAZINE FRONT COVER
A front cover is used to entice the reader to buy/read the magazine, they may not even pick the magazine up in the first place if the front cover is not carefully designed.
4 DIFFERENT TYPES FILM MAGAZINE FRONT COVERS
MASTHEAD
- This is the name of the magazine which is always displayed at the top;
- The font style and colour is chosen carefully to attract the customer and to give an idea about the content within the magazine;
- The title of the magazine is also chosen very carefully.
TAGLINE
This goes near the masthead and is sometimes attached to it, it shoes what the magazine is about or who it is aimed at.
CENTRAL IMAGE
This is a very important part of the magazine as it is the first thing that catches the consumers eye before they read the printed text; the central image will more than likely be strongly related to the feature article. The central image will be relevant to the magazine's audience and purpose.
THE COVER MODEL
Cover models are used on the front of the magazine, this will be a celebrity or a well known person who is connected with the film cover's genre. This makes a massive difference to the magazine's selling power as people will want to buy the magazine when they see someone who they look up to on the cover.
ANCHORAGE
This term refers to how images are referred to, images on magazines are captioned, this directly explains what the pictures portray. Anchoring an image helps to give it a meaning.
SECONDARY IMAGES
These are used to help promote other features in the magazine and are usually anchored by a coverline. Readers are usually more enticed by the pictures then the coverline.
COVER LINES
These are located around the magazine cover and they tell the consumer about the magazine's content. The front covers often features 6-12 coverlines in an attempt to lure different reader to different things within the magazine.
PUFF
This is puff as in 'puff of air', it helps to draw attention and promote certain features within the magazine; it is usually placed infront of a colourful background and are shaped. Quite often they are used to advertise a 'freebie' or promote a special feature in the magazine.
PUG
Pugs are the ears of the magazine, they usually appear in the top left or right hand corner of the magazine. They usually display a promotion from that magazine's edition.
USE OF COLOUR
Some magazines will have a colour scheme (masthead, coverline fonts e.t.c.), although some will co-ordinate the colours with the central image.
FONT
Front covers use varying fonts to infer a meaning to the text that they are displaying.
MR