Codes and conventions of the front page.

Rebecca Walsh

Introduction.

In this lesson we discussed the codes and conventions of the front cover of a magazine.

We then logged onto the computers to make a PowerPoint showing the codes and

conventions that we had talked about.

The masthead is partially covered, it has been out there because it doesn’t need to be shown as it is a well known magazine.

The word ‘Exclusive!’ is a buzz word. It is used to attract the audiences attention and to make it seem like this magazine has gossip that no other magazine has.

There is one main image with some text to anchor it. This image of ZacEfron is a mid shot as you can see his body as well as his face. The photograph is posed as he is using direct mode of address by looking directly at the camera. There is also never any text over the celebrities faces. The cover of the magazine has a main image of ZacEfron because the main story featured in the magazine is about him.

There is a simple colour scheme: pink and yellow. Colours that don’t clash are easier to look at and sometimes reinforce the magazines ideology/brand. These colours are seen as girly colours which is suitable because the target audience of this magazine is young girls.

The web address is on the magazine which will give readers an idea of what they can do to get more inside information on their favourite celebrities. There will also be quizzes on the website to make it more interactive and more fun for the younger girls.

There are smaller images which correspond to other stories in the magazine. These are not the main stories so they are not shown as big important stories and are in a smaller font.

The barcode is usually at the bottom of the magazine, it is near the price of the magazine and the issue number.

There is a competition at the top of the page. This is called a puff. The word ‘win!’ is in a different font to stand out. It also has an exclamation mark which suggests that it is a big competition and that if you didn’t enter you would be missing out on a big opportunity.

The main cover line is in a bigger font compared to the other cover lines. It is bolder and bigger, the smaller cover lines are all in the same style font.

The slogan of this magazine says that this magazine has more gossip than any others which suggests to the reader that is the best magazine to buy.

The anchorage text completes the meaning of the image. The images of celebrities are paired with a cover line about them so that we know what the story is.