codes and conventions

1. Codes and conventions of context
page in magazines

2. Title/masthead – this is used in usually all magazines to
show it is the context page. The font of the context
page is different to the other fonts on this page.
Main image - Most context pages of magazines usually
has a main image – some also contains smaller pictures
to show what the reader/buyer of the magazine will
expect to be in this magazine e.g. the empire magazine
(left) has a couple of pictures that all have a cover line or
a description of each picture to let readers or the buyers
what that specific picture is telling about that page.
Picture of the front cover – it is used to remind the reader
what magazine they are reading. The contents page also
may contains the magazine brand name somewhere on
the page. So the magazine can create a brand for its
magazine and shows what magazine the person it
reading. The context page also includes the magazines
masthead/title (mentioned above) and issue number so
people know what issue it is, sometimes it includes the
date of the magazine as well.
Sub images - There are multiple images in the context
page – every image contains a cover line/description
so the reader can know what the image is about. It can
also be used to attract readers/buyers if they do not
like the main article that is being shown with the main
image on the context page. The sub image also always
has a page number on every single image – to indicate
which page of the magazine is this image from or
relates to. Sometimes the image shows the a small
picture of the article e.g. The terminator article shows
a small picture of the article itself.
Colour scheme - Nearly every magazine context page has some sort of colour scheme
for the colour of the text and titles e.g. The magazine above has a lightly fainted blue
colour scheme with the sub titles with a different type of blue. The information below
each subtitle is also a different shade of colour so the reader can easily identify which
part they are reading but still fit into the colour scheme. The SFX magazine is also a
similar way however it has a orange colour scheme instead. The colour scheme is
usually very limited, usually white and with one more colour.
Columns – this code and convention is also in most if not
all magazines so the number and information can easily
be read by the reader who maybe just trying to find one
page they want to read about. Having a column makes it
easier to identify what page number is which article since
the number is beside each subtitle. The columns are also
split into sections by the use of a subheading e.g. The
Empire magazine has subheadings/title ‘In cinemas’ to
split the columns into different sections that readers can
easily identify which part is which.
Subheadings/subtitles – the magazine always has
this code and convention since readers can easily
find the part of the magazine they would like to
read in a very simplistic way e.g. The SFX
magazine a reader maybe looking for the Merlin
article which is easily identified since the font is
quite big with the page number next to it. The font
of the text here is usually quite big but never as big
as the masthead – it usually has a different shade
of colour from the colour scheme or a completely
different colour for it to be identifiable
Page numbers – the main purpose of the page is to guide
the reader/buyer to what page that article is on. All
magazine use this to easily show what article is on what
page. The main image usually has the page number right
beside it, so the reader can quickly identify what page
they have to turn to. The font and font colour of the page
number is usually all the same however if the number is in
a image it usually has a different colour to stand out from
the image. The smaller article page numbers are in
smaller texts in the columns since they are either less
important than the main article or the magazine it is
trying to promote. Most page number are next to the
title or in a row so the reader can easily identify them