When designing a magazine cover, there are certain key, conventional aspects that must be considered:

The Masthead - this is the title of the magazine, often displayed somewhere towards the top of a magazine cover. The Masthead is also usually displayed in a unique font face, recognisable to that particular magazine.

The Dateline - this is the month and year in which the magazine has been published. In most monthly magazines, they are found upon the news-stands a month earlier than the month stated on the cover date. The price of the magazine is usually displayed here.

The Main Image - the main image is often the most important aspect of the cover, and is used to sell the magazine as a whole. A well-known celebrity model is usually used within the image. If a model is used, their face is often large enough to fill a wide proportion of the magazines cover.

Coverlines - these are distributed around the main image of a magazine cover. They are used to inform the reader of key aspects of content, and therefore sell the magazine, without distracting too much attention away from the main image.

Main Cover Line - the main cover line is very large in comparison with the other coverlines, and often takes up around a quarter of the cover area. The main cover line is sometimes in relation to the main image, or simply an important area of content that may aid in selling the magazine.

Barcode - this is the standard barcode used by retailers.

Selling line - this is a short, sharp description of the title's main marketing point, or is perhaps used for setting out the magazines editorial philosophy.