Magazine Terminology

In this blog post I will be making a list of the main features of a magazine front cover and giving you their definition.

• Masthead: The name of the magazine, usually an iconic logo/typography of the name. This gives the magazine its identity and can always be see on the front cover of a magazine.

• Banner: A banner is a strip of text (usually a different colour) to promote things inside the magazine, ie. interviews, exclusives, giveaways.

• Main image: The biggest image on the cover, usually seen as the background with the typography obstructing some parts of the image. this usually shows an artist who has an article based on them inside.

• Buzz word: words like NEW or EXCLUSIVE. usually placed on the cover to draw in buyers, sometimes in a different colour and are usually bigger to draw the readers eye to them.

• Headline: the main story in the magazine, usually to do with the main image (see above)

• Barcode: The barcode is not always on the front cover, this is almost always in the coners of the page and sometimes displays the price of the magazine.

• Anchorage text: Usually found underneath the headline, explains the main image and headline. Mostly used like a caption. Sometimes even in the form of a piece/ section of the article that the main image goes along with.

• Puff : The puff is usually an extra incentive to buy the magazine, for example a poster or a sticker, usually surrounded by a colourful text box or shape.

• Secondary images: images used on the front cover that aren't as important as the main image. These will contain images related to what can be found inside the magazine.

• Pug: When the corner of the page is covered with a text box or shape, mostly containing Buzz words or sometimes the price.