Conventions of a magazine cover 

The masthead or title is unique to the magazine as different magazines have different and distinctive fonts which is a trademark for the magazine. 

Typically the masthead will fit the width of the cover so it is the largest text on the cover.

The issue number and date is always printed on the cover. Although this particular text is not the largest and usually appears underneath the title but in this example it is in between the letter.

The barcode typically appears on the bottom of the cover.

This gives a better insight of what the magazine is about and will usually be used as a selling point because some magazines say 'best magazine...' which may interest readers more as it is proclaiming to be better than other magazines.

The main image of the cover will usually be of a famous person, in the case of a film magazine it will be of a famous actor. This will be in relation to a big film release so that the actor can further promote the film. Typically we will find that the image is as large as the magazine.

In most magazine covers, the name of the featured star is featured on the right or left side of the cover but in this case it is in the middle although the name has not appeared. As the cover story will be about the star, the name will be larger.

These are the cover lines that present the essential and possibly more interesting articles inside of the magazine. They are typically ordered on the left or right side but in this case they have been positioned around the cover.

The bottom strip of the magazine shows what more is featured inside. They will usually present or use words that are most interesting for example the name of an actor or film title.