The secrets of magazine cover design by Tony Quinn:
1. The key ingredients
| Ingredients | Use on front cover |
| Masthead (title, logotype, logo or nameplate) | The name of the magazine displayed in a specific typeface. This is the visual branding of the title and is often done in a specially designed typeface to be easily recognised and unique. The masthead - also called a title - is usually used on the contents page inside as well as the front cover, and as a logo for advertising and branding purposes. These titles are often designed by typographers such as Dave Farey and Richard Dawson (Good Food, Maxim, Design Week) and Matthew Carter (Private Eye) |
| Dateline | Month and year of publication, often with the price. Note that a monthly magazine usually hits the news-stands the month before the cover date |
| Main image | In the case of this front cover there is a single image of the model Shania. The image is used in a classic way, the face is big enough to stand out on the news-stand, with the model making full eye-contact |
| Model credit | This says: 'Shania: So hot.' It is unusual for such a credit to appear on a magazine front cover, but it is done sometimes on fashion magazines. The photographer and model credit is usually on the contents page |
| Coverlines | From the 1950s, greater competition on the newsstands resulted in more cover lines. Today, some magazines print special covers for subscribers' copies that use few cover lines. Cosmopolitan magazine uses a lot of cover lines, which are distributed around the main image without detracting from it too much. A mistake often made with cover lines is that they run over an image that has a lot of colour changes, rendering the words difficult to read. This is a problem here with the red text on the hair on the left and the smaller yellow text against Shania's skin |
| Main cover line | This is very large - taking up almost a quarter of the magazine cover - and comes in three layers, each with a different colour. It promotes the use of naked male centrefolds, a feature of Cosmopolitan in the UK since its first issue. Note the main cover line is positioned against the model's shoulder so it shows up clearly |
| Left third | The left third of the magazine cover is vital for sales in shops where the magazine is not shown full-frontage. The title must be easily recognisable in a display of dozens of competitors. The start of the masthead is important here, as are short cover lines that are easy to read The top fifth of the cover - usually dominated by the masthead - may be the vital part in supermarkets, where magazines are displayed differently |
| Bar code | Standard bar code used by retailers, displayed on UK magazines since 1988. Special subscriber covers often omit this |
| Selling line | Short, sharp description of the title's main marketing point (for Cosmopolitan: 'The world's No 1 magazine for young women') or perhaps setting out its editorial philosophy |
| Covers evolve over time | They may be tweaked to exploit new printing techniques; switch from full face to a body shot; use illustration rather than photography; move the target readership age up or down; or simply to freshen things up. Take a look at 4 Girl covers for one example; or 3 covers from Record Mirror. Compare the cover above with Cosmo's first UK issue in 1972. What's changed and why? Pay attention to detail - does the cover image go in front of or behind the masthead? Why do you think Company's 2001 masthead is so similar to Cosmopolitan's? |
| More cover ideas |
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| (C) | This page is copyright. If you want to use it, for example, on a website, in a project report, business presentation or for teaching material, you must credit the source and add a web link if online: The secrets of magazine cover design by Tony Quinn http://www.magforum.com/cover_secrets.htm Thanks! |
Part
2: Magazine cover design - the right mix |
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| Other relevant pages: |
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