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Front cover
Front cover is the introduction to the magazine. It tells you what the magazine is about. It consists of the masthead which is big and tells you the name of the magazine. The cover will also have a date in the top right hand corner of when it was published. Included on this page is the skyline which will have a sentence or quote on the specific topic for example for a beauty magazine a skyline could be ‘This year’s best fake tans revealed.’ Buttons on the magazine are small and come in different shapes they usually are for any offers or notes for the magazine. The cover is a colour blast and eye catching in order to attract a reader’s attention when afar or even close up.
Contents page
The contents page gives you a list of the topics or posters included in the magazine. The contents page for a beauty magazine would give you a topic like ‘The Baron of Botox.’ The contents page can be plain or the whole enchilada and make it similar to the front cover.
The double spread
The double spread is pretty straightforward we have the photograph and the article both related to one another spanned out onto two pages straight after the contents page. This is also a matter of making things work in such a way to make it look like everything works together. Experiment as much as possible and see what looks enjoyable and what doesn’t.
Codes and conventions of a garden magazine
Main image: The main image covers the front page and is a picture of flowers or a garden for a garden magazine. It needs to be eye catching and really stand out from other magazines. The audience needs to be able to want it enough to buy the magazine at ‘full price.’ Audience should be able to identify the genre from the image.
Masthead: The masthead is large and usually at the top of the front cover. It lets the audience know the genre of the magazine and has to be in sync with the main image.
Barcode: Tells us the price of the magazine.
Strip: This is the part of the cover that gives us an interesting peek of what the magazine is about.
Cover Lines: These are selling lines that are normally on the right side of the magazine and sometimes on both sides of the magazine.
Puffs/ buttons: Are regular shaped objects that usually hold a giveaway or special offer. These are usually not present on a garden magazine.
Contents page: Lists the topics contained in the magazine.
Double spread: Usually contains an article and a few images relating to the article.
Analysis of three front covers, two contents pages and one double spread
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3 FRONT COVERS
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As typical cover is bright and eye-catching something that the readers will want to pick up in a store. A garden magazine would have either a close up of an unusual flower or a wide shot of a nursery or garden. The mast head voices the topic and for that reason is big, bold and bright and stands out from the rest of the cover. A garden magazine does not have buttons/puffs.
This contents page is simple but colourful. The page is eyecatching and is a twist on normal index/ content pages you see. The simplicity and neatness make it readable and beside each topic is a little about what to expect on that page.
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2 CONTENTS PAGES
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The contents page above is designed in a way that the reader gets a sneak peek view of the picture on the page and has to read the magazine in order see the full image. The image corresponds to the topic underneath it which delves a short bit into the article not giving away the whole thing. The page numbers big for the reader to see and the pics are colour full to really stick in the reader’s mind about the big picture.
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1 DOUBLE SPREAD
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As of this double spread the picture is taking over the page and attention is immediately brought to the scenery and the epic view that is set as the background of this spread. The picture stands out and the heading is in coherence with picture with similar use of colours. The text is neatly placed in columns and any headings are placed in bold to stand out. The text is not overpowering and the picture is left to grab the reader’s attention in such a way that they would want to read the article.
