The front cover of a magazine is designed to attract readers and entice them to purchase the magazine. It promotes the magazine's content and appeals to its target audience. Key elements of magazine covers include cover lines that describe articles, images anchored with captions or headlines to give them meaning, cover models related to the magazine's genre, and varied typography to match the text. Covers also use secondary images and puffs to promote additional features and draw attention.

1. Magazine covers

2. images
text
skyline
incentive
masthead
price
barcode
Colour scheme
Cover line
Model credit

3. masthead
Main cover line
Main image
Music genre

4. skyline
barcode
Main cover
line
masthead
Cover lines
images

5. barcode
Main cover line
price
Date line
masthead
Cover line
Image

7. Mainly, the front cover functions to entice readers to buy a magazine.
Although the reader will focus more on the front instead of reading the
inside first, they may not pick up the magazine unless the front cover is
well designed. The cover is one of the most important things because it
promotes and is made up of important features. It is also a key feature
because it shows off the content and appeals to the target audience.
Why is the front cover important?

8. The cover model
For most magazines, a cover model will be used. This could be a celebrity or someone well-known that is connected
to the magazine’s genre. The cover model usually expresses the genre of the magazine.
Font/typography
Front covers will display a variety of font choices, usually adapting to show the meaning to the text that they are
showing.

9. Anchorage
This is a term that will refer to the images and explains them. In
magazines, images will be anchored by captions, cover lines, articles or
headlines. Anchoring an image helps give it meaning, as it will help the
reader to understand what its about and why it’s there.

10. Secondary images
These may be used on a front cover to help to promote other features used
within a magazine, usually anchored by a cover line. They are often used in
magazines where the reader needs to be drawn in by the picture rather
than the cover line text.

11. Cover lines
These are found on various points of the front cover and tell the reader
about the magazines contents and what the articles are about. The front
cover will usually feature six to twelve cover lines to try and lure different
readers to different things. Cover lines will often use language and
presentational devices to be the most effective.

12. Mode of address
This refers to the way that magazines communicate with the readers.
Some magazines will use a direct mode of address to communicate with
just an individual reader. This might be through the use of a cover model
or through the use of 2nd person pronouns.

13. Puff
This is like a ‘’puff of air’’, and is used to help to draw attention and
promote certain elements in the magazine. They are usually set
against colourful backgrounds and are shaped. Most of the time
they advertise a special feature or ‘’freebie’’ in a magazine.