The masthead, which is the name of the magazine in a unique font, is located at the top of the magazine cover. The main image, usually featuring a person looking at the reader, relates to the main article and is centered on the cover. Surrounding the main image are cover lines that provide brief teasers about articles inside to entice readers. Additional information like barcodes or price stickers may be on the back rather than the front cover.

1. Codes and conventions of the
contents page of a magazine

2. Codes and conventions of magazine covers
The masthead is the name of the
magazine and it is the biggest
piece of writing on the cover. It is
usually located at the top of the
cover. Also the font of the
masthead is not used anywhere
else in the magazine.
The main image is the biggest thing on
the cover. It is the image that relates to
the main article usually and they are
almost always a person. The person used
is always looking straight down the
camera at the reader (direct motive
address). The image is mostly central of
the page.
Cover lines are the little teasers for the
articles that are inside the magazine, they
usually give very little information about the
story so it entices people in. Usually surround
the main image.
There is usually a barcode or the
price on. The price sticker is
called a splash. Magazines don’t
always have these things on the
cover, sometimes they are on the
back.
*Lack of barcode,
and splash*