Terminology Glossary
Bar Code: Standard barcode that is used by the retailers when a customer is purchasing the product.
Clutter: The term given to the proliferation of advertising messages aimed at consumers.
Colour Scheme: A planned range of colours that will match and merge with the
front covers main image. Marketers also have to consider the colour scheme when they think about wanting to make the magazine stand out on the shelves.
Cover lines: Smaller than the main cover line, the cover lines are smaller and there are usually a lot of them distributed around the cover/main image and storyline.
Dateline: Shows the month and year of the publication, which is then usually followed by the price.
Demographics: Recognisable characteristics of media consumers such as age, gender, education and income level.
Genre: A category of media texts characterized by a particular style, form or content.
Left Third: Where the start of the masthead is visible, and is where the writers of that magazine would advertise through cover lines the main articles of that issue.
Logo: The magazines nameplate that appears on the cover. Also known a masthead.
Main Cover Line: Very large, usually in block colour, and is carefully positioned by the editors to stand out when on the shelves.
Main Image: Relevant to the main article and is always a photograph relating to the magazines purpose. E.g. for a fashion magazine they would use either a celebrity or a model.
Masthead: Also known as the name of the magazine. It’s the visual branding of the title, which usually doesn’t change format week to week but may differ in colour depending on the colour scheme.
Poster-style: (For high established magazines) A front cover style that shows that the magazine is confident. It will usually have a big head shot as its main image and will have little cover lines.
Selling Line: This is the short and sharp description of the magazines titles main marketing point.
Text: The individual results of media production: a movie, a TV episode, a book, an issue of a magazine or newspaper, an advertisement, an album, a CD, etc.
