Codes and Conventions: Travel Magazine

        

Domestic Travel Magazines

Magazines that encourage travel within a country share similar features. They usually use a color scheme or a group of colors that represent the country's flag. This creates a sense of patriotism and makes people excited about exploring their homes.

United States of America: Red, white, and blue

France: Red, white and blue

Pakistan: Green and white

1. Covers. The mastheads of all of the magazines are large, bold, and grab attention. they establish the identity of the magazine and distinguish it from other magazines. The main images take up the whole page even within borders if there are any. The main coverlines relate to the main image and give a hint as to what the topic the magazine is talking about.

2. Images. Images are important, especially in this genre. They give the audience something to picture while reading the article, and if the pictures are appealing, the audience is more likely to read about the topic or place shown. Travel magazines do not just use images of scenery. They also include images of food that is specifically eaten in a region, or they might show different activities or attractions a place offers to entice the audience to learn more about it.

   A lady relaxing in front of an ocean view: advertising relaxation in that location.

                      Someone looking down from a balcony: advertising good hotels and other attractions.

                                       

3. Presentation. Popular magazines have a regular theme that they utilize in their magazines. They usually keep similar looks in all of their issues and it sets a sense of familiarity for the readers. Each magazine has different themes that identify them from others. 

Luxury Travel uses the same font for the masthead of their magazine and stays consistent with the size of the cover image and the size of the cover lines.

                   

National Geographic keeps a yellow border around the front cover of most of their magazines. The font and size of the masthead also stay the same and their main image takes up all of the space on the cover.

  

                                                                

4. Information. The articles in travel magazines have different components that work together to engage a reader. 

• The article needs to have a clear storyline. When writing, you need to know what your story is going to be about, and all of the events that are in it.
• The article needs a clear purpose or goal. Sometimes there is a physical goal like climbing a mountain and bringing the reader with you. Other times, there are less obvious goals like learning the history of a place.
• Write a really good first paragraph. You need to grab the reader's attention and to do that, you need an introduction to draw the audience in.
• Use vivid language to describe your surroundings. Be sure to be as descriptive as possible to help the audience build a picture of the scene as you're talking about it.
• Do not rush the ending. Start setting up your conclusion by reflecting on your's or someone else's experiences and summing up the experience.

5. Writing Styles. Magazines generally have 3-4 main features for each issue.

• Narrative features are an example of "travel writing" which are longer articles about specific experiences in certain destinations. Seasonality is important because it tells the reader that the author's amazing experience happened recently and encourages them to look into the topic further.
• Roundups are bulleted lists with the main paragraph followed by examples. For these types of features, it is best to focus on details and be as specific as possible.
• Roadtrips and walking tours are popular among readers as they usually travel with the goal to explore and sight-see in mind. This gives them the author's perspective on those activities in a destination.
• Travel news is helpful in telling readers all about the current situation in a destination and it provides them with information that can help them decide whether they want to visit a place or not.

Wrap Up

Most magazines that advertise travel within a country tend to use the colors used in a country's flag, for example, a travel magazine for the United States of America would use red, blue, and white colors. The mastheads of magazines are usually large and bold to attract attention and the images are of locations talked about in the magazine, food eaten in a destination, or activities and attractions in a place. Travel magazines also keep similar layouts and formats for their magazines so when a reader sees it, they can identify the brand that made the magazine which helps the brand become well-known. A few writing styles in travel magazines are narrative articles, news about destinations, and roundups that highlight main features of a location. 

Work Cited:

• “Travel Magazine Codes and Conventions.” Prezi.com, https://prezi.com/p/p__p013k5erz/travel-magazine-codes-and-conventions/.

• Dan Linstead | 28 December 2021. “10 Expert Tips for Writing Travel Articles.” Wanderlust, https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/10-tips-for-writing-travel-articles/.

• “Types of Travel Articles.” Launch Your Travel Writing Career, https://www.travelwritingcareer.com/types-travel-articles/.