StraplineA short line above the masthead that says what the magazine is.
MastheadThe magazine's name, in the same lettering on every issue.
Date and priceWhen the issue came out and what it costs.
Cover linesShort lines that tell what is inside the issue.
Main imageThe one large picture on the cover.
Main cover lineThe largest cover line, for the biggest story.
BarcodeThe box of black stripes with numbers under it.
How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-30, for the names of the parts only; nothing was copied. School media-studies books read in the Internet Archive's full-text search of its scanned copies: (1) AQA GCSE Media Studies (Nelson Thornes, 2009), https://archive.org/details/bwb_KS-441-107; (2) Jackie Newman, WJEC GCSE Film Studies: Study and Revision Guide (2014), https://archive.org/details/wjecgcsefilmstud0000newm; (3) Christine Bell, WJEC A2 Media Studies: Study and Revision Guide (2013), https://archive.org/details/wjeca2mediastudi0000bell; (6) Roy Paul Nelson, Publication Design (1991), https://archive.org/details/publicationdesig0000nels_h7c5. Also (4) Wikipedia, Nameplate (publishing), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nameplate_(publishing), and Wiktionary (masthead, coverline, strapline); (5) InPublishing, Today's covers, https://www.inpublishing.co.uk/articles/todays-covers-reader-focused-brand-aware-and-hard-hard-sell-1507; (7) Wikipedia, ISSN, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN, for the bar code of a serial. Every part asked is named by at least two of them. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30. The magazine, its title and its cover are own work, invented for this page; no real magazine's cover, title or picture was copied. Licence: own work
How it works
The parts of a magazine cover are the masthead, the strapline, the date and price, the cover lines, the main image, the main cover line and the barcode. Name each one on a sample cover.
Read the full guide
Start with the name
The masthead is the magazine's name, set in the same lettering on every issue. The short line just above it is the strapline. Near them sit the issue's date and its price.
Then the stories
Cover lines are the short lines that tell what is inside. The largest, the main cover line, belongs to the biggest story, and the main image is the one large picture. The barcode is the box of stripes in a corner. For class, print the cover blank, with a numbered line for each part, or labeled as the key.
American publishing often calls the masthead the nameplate or the logo. Typed, all three names count.
Cover lines are also called sell lines; either name counts when typed.
Questions and answers
What are the parts of a magazine cover?
A magazine cover has a masthead with the magazine's name, often a strapline above it, the issue's date and price, one main image, a main cover line for the biggest story, smaller cover lines for other stories, and a barcode.
What is the masthead on a magazine cover?
The masthead is the magazine's name as it is printed on the cover, in the same lettering on each issue. In American publishing the cover title is also called the nameplate, and masthead can mean the list of staff printed inside.
What is a cover line?
A cover line is a short line of text on the front of a magazine that describes a story inside. The biggest is the main cover line, and a cover usually carries several smaller ones too.
Is Tidepool a real magazine?
No. The name, the cover and its stories were made up for this page, and the barcode's digits are all zeros. No real magazine's cover was copied.