Conventions of a Magazine Layout

Term	Description
Masthead title piece	The magazine’s title. Usually displayed in the top left corner.
Price	Magazine cost.
Date	Weekly: usually from Saturday to Friday. Monthly: a month ahead.
Issue Number	A tally of magazines.
Barcode	Read electronically and decoded into usable information.
Teaser	One word/phrase acts as an attention grabber.
Main Feature: Headline	A phrase that may summarise the main point of the main feature. In large print, different style, bold colours in order to catch the attention of the reader.
Subtitle	Smaller headline that may summarise the features.
Smaller Feature	Features included in the magazine.
Images	Size: CU to Med CU. Ranges from one main image to x amount featuring one main image and smaller images. Helps make the page loom more interesting. It can add understanding of a story and/or entice someone to read the magazine.
Font	Style and size of type face.
Colour	Specific/stylistic/thematic types.
Graphics	Graphical shapes to highlight feature(s).
Offers/adverts Blurb	Banner-style shape featuring free products/promotions.
Left Third	Where you would see the main story headline.
Sell Lines	The brand identifier.
Splash	Looks usually like a splash.
Credit	e.g. Photographed by…
Kicker	Aims to pull you in to read it.
Teller	Explains the Kicker.
Skyline	Headline above the masthead for the additional features.
Flash	Like Splash, a graphic feature.
Graphology	The art of using graphics. E.g. colour scheme, placement, design etc.
Anchorage	Explains the photograph (caption).
Vocabulary	Making it relevant to the content.
Screamers	A headline you would verbally shout (with a “!”).

Preliminary Exercise Brief

Using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.