Conventions of a magazine

Masthead: The name of the magazine presented on the front cover, usually bold and standing out so it's clear what the title of the magazine is.

Dateline: The date often shown in months or years, usually contains the price too.

Main Image: The largest image shown on the front cover, showing its relation to the main headline and story, and is placed in the middle to be the centre of attention.

Coverlines: These are a sentence, to explain the story that will feature inside the magazine. They appear smaller and are spread out on the left or right side of the cover to explain the other stories that are inside the magazine. Coverlines sometimes contain small images, relating to the coverline.

Main Cover line: The largest and most visable coverline, relating to the main image. Usually takes up a lot of the front cover along with the main image.

Bar code: The bar code is on ever magazine, and appears at the bottom.

Selling line: This is the title's main selling point, and is written to relate to the magazine. For example NME's magazine's selling line is 'New Musical Express'.