Magazine conventions

MASTHEADS

Both magazines have mastheads. The masthead is the name of the magazine one is called “Vibe” but the other masthead reads “The Wanted” is a top of the pops magazine but the masthead say’s “The Wanted” because it’s a special addition.

THE LEAD COVER LINE

The Lead cover line is the main title. Usually written in bold or capitals. The Lead cover tends to be related to the main icon featured on the front cover of the magazine. In this case the lead on top is associated with the boy band The Wanted, and the lead below is associated with rap artist, Eminem.

COVER LINES

The cover lines in Vibe refer to rap artists including ‘Lil Wayne’ ‘Kanye West’ ‘Jay-z’ ‘T.I’ ‘Drake’ and many more this is to show you what is included inside. There are Five additional cover lines to attract the audience. In the Top of the pops magazine it only has one cover line because it is a special addition about The Wanted. The other text on this front cover is telling us what they are giving away within this addition.

CROSS HEAD

In the Top Of The Pops magazine it uses a cross head. A cross head is a small sub-heading or in this case sub-headings that are used to split up a large block of text. These sub headings are to show what is included within this magazine. Vibe magazine does not use any cross heads.

STRAPLINE

The strapline is based at the top of the magazine, just above the masthead. The strapline above is top of the pops magazine. The name of the magazine is above and followed by the word ‘special’ this is to show it is a magazine based on just one artist or band. The headline for vibe magazine includes a question, this will make more people want to buy it to look inside at how people have answered it. It also includes other artists that are discussed inside.

IMAGE

The image plays an important role as it is the first thing the reader see’s. If you are a The Wanted fan, instantly you would want to buy the top of the pops magazine as they are the main icons of this front cover and it is a ‘TW’ special.

The main icon on vibe magazine is Eminem. Eminem fans would instantly be drawn to this magazine and want to buy it as connotes that the main story is about him.

BARCODE AND PRICE

In the Top Of The Pops magazine it shows the price and barcode. This is a main convention. On Vibe magazine it does not have the price or barcode and this is very unusual for a magazine not to contain the price and barcode on the front cover. So presumably it should be on the contents page instead.