Terms for magazines.

Today we talked about the terms used when making music magazines.

The terms used are:

Balance- the design principle that one side of a layout must be given equal weight compared to another. Balance is achieved through the placement of type and graphic elements.

Banner- the place where magazine's logo (and it's motto or subtitle) appears.

Body copy- the main text of an article.

Brand- the magazine is a 'brand', in the same way as GAP or Levis is a brand. With the growth of synergy, a magazine might have spin off products such as a radio station, TV channel, clothing line or merchandise.

Bullet- a circle or dingbat before each item on a list.

Byline- the name of an article's author.

Callout- explanation of a specific area f an illustration or diagram.

Caption- also called a cutline.

Consistency- the principle that a magazine should retain some elements throughout an edition of a magazine and also from month to month. Inconsistency n typeface, design, layout etc. an confuse and alienate readers. See also: unity.

Contrast- the principle that important elements are given emphasis on a page through the use of size, colour, texture or placement whilst less important elements are minimised.

Copy- the written text.

Cover- divided into OFC (Outside Front Cover), IFC (Inside Front Cover).

Cover Lines- also known as sell-lines. The lines on the front cover that advertise the contents.

Crop- to cut or trim an image.

Deck- text below an headline that summarises or provides a lead-in to the article.

Display Type- type that is larger than the body copy, such as sub-headings and pull quotes.

Drop Cap- the large letter, like illuminated writing, sometimes found as the first letter of an article.

Font- all the sizes and styles of a typeface family.

Four F's- Format, Formula, Frame, Function.

Glossy- a magazine with glossy pages. Also refers to a magazine that is the standard magazine sizes of 8 by 11 inches to 10 by 13 inches, or 20 by 28 cm's to 25 by 33 cm.

Graphic- the visual elements of the magazine like illustrations and photographs, as opposed to typographic or copy which refers to fonts and words.

Grid- an invisible structure that guides the placement of graphics and text on a page.

Logotype or Logo- the name of the magazine, also known as the flag. Found in the banner space, but often repeated elsewhere, like on the contents page.

Margin- the measured white space at the top, bottom, left and right edges of the text. If anything goes over the margins, it is said to bleed.

Masthead- a box, usually about a column wide, that lists the magazine's editors, designers, business staff and information about the publishing company, subscriptions and contact information.

Matte- a dull, unglossy finish on a page.

Montage- the assembly of several photos or illustrations into a single piece of art.

Pagination- the process of creating complete page layouts and putting them in order using DTP.

Palette- a set of colours that can be used in magazines , defined in advance to ensure a consistant look and brand from issue to issue.

Pull quote- n excerpt from an article, often a quotation from an interview, that has been pulled out, enlarged an used as a design element to break up body text.

Sans-serif- a font without feet.

Sequence- the design principle that the designer can choose the order in which readers look at items on a page, using size, colour, shape and placement.

Serif- a font that has feet.

Slab serif- a typeface using heavy, even serifs.

Subhead- a short headline used to break up paragraphs within body copy.

Subtitle- a heading beneath the logotype that acts as the magazines motto.

Typeface- a style of font or type.

Unity- a consistency in design throughout the magazine.