Conventions Analysis of a Front Cover

Masthead: The masthead is the title of the magazine, in this magazine the masthead is Vibe. It is used to show the audience what magazine they are looking at and as seen on this cover it is bold and very eye catching.

Main Image: The main image is used as a visual aid to describe what is featuring in this particular edition of the magazine. it also aids the publisher to set the audience and genre of the magazine, because if the publisher is aiming at high class men he may show a smart man in a suit, but if the publisher is aiming to attract young readers they will show an image of a boyband or an artist which attracts the audience what is trying to be attracted.

Coverlines: These are the little texts that show what articles are featured in the magazine. They are also used to help the publish attract an audience. The artists featured will attract different people because people won't buy a magazine if they don't like the genre or a certain artist featured. For example, this magazine features the coverline 'Behind JAY -Z's New York Takeover.' This will attract people who like Jay Z or other related artists. Coverlines are also known as anchorage's or anchorage quotes, which are quotes taken directly out of an article.

The Main Coverline is the biggest coverline, it's the magazine's biggest feature. It usually associates with the main image, however this cover breaks conventions and the main coverline is 'Keri Hilson Has Been A [Very] Bad Girl.' This breaks conventions because the main image is an image of T.I. However, this would make sense to the audience as T.I works very closely and has released many songs with Keri Hilson. 

Skyline and Footer: These are the banners of text at the top and bottom of the cover. The skyline is at the top and the footer is at the bottom. The skyline usually features an award the magazine has won or a special edition, for example this magazine has a review of 2010 and this is publisised by the use of a skyline. It doesn't have a footer.

Price and Barcode: These are used to sell the magazine in a shop. People need to know how much the the magazine costs and how to buy it, the barcode allows an electronic register of how many copies are sold and this usually depends on the front cover because this is the first thing seen by prospective buyers.