Magazine codes and conventions

All magazines should follow basic codes and conventions to be successful.

What are codes? Codes are signs, which often include a meaning, they can also be split into two main sectors
 
.Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film.
.Symbolic codes shows what is beneath the surface of what we see. For example, a character's actions portray how they are feeling.

What are conventions?
Conventions are the accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium,  but conventions are also genre specific.
Masthead: as it is the title block for the magazine it should be the most eye catching and interesting
Secondary lead: this is a preview of an inside article usually in the form of a picture
Sidebar: an additional box next to the main feature
Strapline: subheading below the masthead
Pugs:  to catch the readers eye, it's placed in the top left and right hand corner; the prices, logo and issue number are placed here
Menu: the list of contents inside the paper
Tag: this engages the reader into  story by using a word or phrase, e.g. new, exclusive etc.
Box out:  a coloured  box behind text to make it stand out
Caption: text underneath an image to explain it
Feature: usually with a human interest angle presented as a spread
Headline: the main statement to describe the main story

-Also, the text needs to be legible and easy to understand due to the wide age range of a school magazines target market

-The photos need to strongly link with the headlines, subhead lines and captions to make the magazine a collective piece which isn't disjointed, the photos could also be portrayed using a range of camera shots, such a medium close up or a longshot

-The layout is also very important as it needs to be comfortable to read, interesting and engaging

-A contents page is vital as it informs the reader about what is on each page so they can quickly turn to it, therefore it needs to be concise


These are just general features that all magazines should be based around and they can all be altered to suit the type of magazine.

bye :)