Magazine Codes and Conventions

In my analysis and research of similar media texts I have discovered these codes and conventions:

• Mastheads are highly visible and at the top of the cover page
• There is a main cover line that announces the most important article and minor cover lines announcing other content
• The main cover line is always the largest and most dominant
• There is a image on the cover
• Contents pages list the magazine contents
• Articles on the contents pages are ordered by page number and sorted into categories
• There are page numbers on each inside page
• There are articles inside the magazine
• There are relevant pictures in the magazine
• Article text is organised into columns
• Text avoids overlapping important elements of pictures
• There is a consistent font applied to the different contents of an article
• Articles have some form of title that stands out from the rest of the article
• Articles end with the name of the article writer
• Some pictures have captions
• Interesting elements of an article may be quoted in a larger font in an article
• There is a consistent theme to the contents of a magazine
• Magazines have a consistent colour scheme/range