Working on the masthead!

The name of a magazine is called the masthead. It's the second thing that the reader sees, following the cover image. Many find that it's a great way to advertise the brand and act as a logo for it. Consequently, it needs to be recognizable so that it can stand out to those looking for it or have interest in finding a magazine to read. Some even have special fonts that are specifically created for it. It's the title of what the reader is about to browse at. It's important for some more than others though. In bookstores, such as Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million, magazines are lines up so that when someone is looking for one, they have to find it by seeing only the top of it where the masthead is. In contrast, other magazines, such as cooking and gossip ones, are displayed with their whole cover shown on display for people waiting in line to check out in places like the grocery store or a somewhere that has a variety of food. 

The masthead should capture the publications, attitude, and fit the intended readership. It should also be versatile and unique so it can be used in other occasions such as a marketing material. It should be easy to read, even if part of it is behind the cover image. Some magazines choose to have it fully displayed, like the Food & Wine magazine, while others choose to have their cover image partly over or under it, like in the Cosmopolitan
magazine. When deciding one which way to, you always have to keep your magazine’s content and style in mind. It's a helpful guide to use because if the title is fitting the style of the magazine, then you will be on track to make it not only recognizable but also memorable.

Something else that is important when deciding on a masthead is using the proper font. It should go along with the theme and keep up with the design of the magazine. For example, if you wanted a playful and bold font, you could use a large one and make it bright pink as the designers of the People magazine did. If you wanted an elegant and sophisticated font, you can make it medium-sized and gray as the designers of the Bon Appetit magazine did. It's better to use different fonts for the logo and other parts of the magazine, such as the cover headlines, so they can easily be told apart.

Some mastheads that I have brainstormed, getting inspiration from the picture below, are:

Cooking Healthy
Healthy Eating
Nutritious Eating
Fresh Foods
Taste of Health
Taste of Nutrition
Cook It Up
For Real Cooks

Fresh Cooking 

I want my magazine to be clean, organized, easy to read, and have interesting content that may not be in other food magazines. I think this will appeal to my target audience and keep my purpose of letting readers enjoy a magazine about food clear. I am going to design it using a free designer page called Canva.

The reason that I chose Cook It Up for the masthead of my magazine was because it's a fun title that's catchy and can easily be remembered. I think it'll appeal to the target audience as they are still young and have a lot of time and energy on their hands to read my magazine and "cook it up" in their own homes.

Resources:

Nikola. “Magazine Masthead Creation.” Magazine Designing, 2 Oct. 2013, www.magazinedesigning.com/magazine-masthead-creation/.