The first thing which the customer notices is of course the masthead; located on the top left of the page. This tells us what magazine it is, and perhaps due to the font and style what the magazine is about. Most magazines however we would know anyway. Mastheads generally tend to be bold, big letters which stand out on the magazine rack.
Next, you look down across the left third which contains the contents of the magazine, trying to sell it to the consumer. Conventionally this will have an transparent background so you can see the rest of the main image behind it. This is located here because when on the magazine rack the left third will generally be left showing, meaning some people may see an article they like so therefore buy the magazine.
Cover Lines also attract the reader, they can be located mostly anywhere on the front cover, however they will most probably link with the main image and be under, or around it. Cover lines may just be a quote from an interview but they make you want to read that feature in full because of the quote.
Sell lines are something which magazines will always use, as their slogans will be put on every magazine, located below the masthead for example NME's would be '
New Music Express' this tells the reader what the magazine is about and what it should be bought for.
The splash is the full image in full, with everything included in the image. Barcodes are read electronically and must be on the cover because they contain the price for when you are buying it, also on magazines; unlike papers they are located on the front because the back page is ussually a full page advert. Dateline's must be included to show what day it went out, an d so that consumers make sure they haven't bought the same one twice. Also this means the shop will know when it should no longer be stocked.
The credit shows who wrote the included article so that they have been credited for the work that they have produced. Skyline's are located above the masthead and will tell you the features of the magazine, they are located there so that if the magazine is sticking out you can see this series of words so therefore want to read it.
Graphology is the way that the page is laid out and structured and how it comes together, for emample if the writings centeral, tilted, sidelined or any other structural choices. Colour schemes set the mood for the magazine, and also define its audience, for example if you have brighter colours it may be associated with a younger audience or perhaps gossip magazines, whereas more subdued darked colours mean that its more adult and mature. Also the vocabulary of the magazine will tell you the audience it is aimed at, for example a gossip magazine will have simpler language included than National Geographic etc.
The main image is what will become the background, and may have other images spread around it. These images are meant to show what is in the magazine and make people want to buy it because of this main image. These will generally show the main feature of the magazine.
Screamers are writing which comes out at you and attracts your attention straight away, meaning you see it and want to know more. Flash is effects that are used on the cover, of if adverts are in the cover in a star or another shape.The teller tells us, as the aduience what is in it and may give is a quote or a feature in the magazine. A kicker may be anywhere on the page and will tell you a page number, in order to 'kick' you on. This is in a smaller font and will be a short anecdote on the magazine. Anchorage is how the images is attached to the wording around it and how they are placed together.
