magazine cover elements and terms

Question 1

What is a magazine?

Answer 1

• a print periodical publication containing miscellaneous pieces (articles, stories), often has pictures
• usually printed on glossy paper

Question 2

Difference between a normal magazine and a lifestyle magazine?

Answer 2

Lifestyle magazines tend to cover topics about health, tourism, fashion, trends and pop-culture
- tell you what you should be aspiring for/how to live your life
- not on one specifc topic, mass audience

Question 3

Masthead?

Answer 3

• name of the magazine, the visual branding of the title
• unique typeface (what you see, like the design of a font etc.) to be recognisable

Question 4

What is the short description showing the magazine’s main selling point?

Answer 4

Selling Line

Question 5

Cover Lines?

Answer 5

• briefly describes and promotes content
• distributed around the dominant signifier

Question 6

Puff piece?

haha funny term

Answer 6

An exageratted article/piece of text on the front of the magazine, often irrelevant to the actual contents of the magazine
- there to fill space

Question 7

Main Cover Line/Model Credit?

Answer 7

• very large (smaller than masthead, bigger than the other coverlines)
• postioned away from model so it shows up clearly

Question 8

Why is the left third important when selling magazines? (in terms of western countries?)

Answer 8

• In shops, the magazine is not shown full-frontage(hence the name left third)
• THEREFORE the title must be easily recognisable in a display of other mag covers, start of the masthead is important

Question 9

Dateline?

Answer 9

The month and year of publication, often shown with the price
- usually found top right, below masthead