Good magazine design is invisible. Readers notice the stories, the photography, the ideas. The layout guides them through without them realising it. Bad design gets noticed immediately.
Magazine layout is more than aesthetics. It creates hierarchy, guides the reader, establishes brand identity and drives commercial value. Every choice in typography, white space, image placement and colour either reinforces what a title stands for or undermines it. The fundamentals apply whether the output is a printed spread, a tablet edition or a responsive web page.
Design is a verb, not a noun. It's a process. It's not just shapes and colours, it's about understanding who you are, and then matching your values to those of your customers.
Andy Cowles Four design decisions that will transform the experience of your brand
Cover design deserves particular attention from specialist and B2B publishers. A cover that once lived only in print now exists as a digital thumbnail, an email header, a social media post. Getting it right means understanding not just what looks good, but who your reader is and what makes them pick you up.
Editorial design across the sector has never faced more demands. User experience, responsive layout, the balance between advertising and editorial on screen. These require design thinking that goes beyond traditional magazine design skills. Publishers who treat their digital presence as an afterthought to print are missing significant opportunities.
Below you'll find some of our best feature articles on the subject, from practical design guidance to case studies and expert interviews, alongside our latest news and industry commentary.
Design can make or break your publishing brand, so it’s worth putting in the time to get it right. There are four key areas that publishers need to focus on, says Andy Cowles.
The purpose of design is to engage readers and ensure they continue reading, says Michael Chinnery, founder of CPUK Print Publishing.
It’s not just newsstand titles that require well designed covers, says Andy Cowles. For specialist titles too, the front cover helps define the magazine and its readers.
Welcome to our latest special feature, this time looking at all aspects of content production and UX. All of the insights and opinions come from leading suppliers to the publishing sector and from senior executives at UK publishing companies.
Don’t rush to conclusions about UX issues, says OpenAthens’ Sarah Underwood; take time to understand the problem.
When it comes to image quality, publishers tend to put much more effort into pictures that appear in print than those that appear online. This, says Pixometry's John de Jong, is a mistake and one that can be easily avoided.
Welcome to our first publishing workflows special, an extended feature taking an in-depth look at all aspects of the content creation process. All of the insights and opinions come from leading suppliers of publishing software & from senior editors.
Despite the trend to digital, publishers still get through a lot of paper, but are they making the right choices? We grab five minutes with Danny Doogan, director of marketing and sustainability at Denmaur Paper Media.
TI Media has selected SPRYLAB technologies to be its interactive e-publishing platform provider of choice in the UK market.
The September issue of Elle Magazine – on sale 8th August, is to be produced on 100% recycled waste paper supplied by Leipa.
Winners of the 2018 Print Futures Awards for people aged 18 to 30 years were presented with their Awards at an event at the House of Lords on 26 July hosted by Lord Black of Brentwood, Deputy Chairman of the Telegraph Media Group and President Emerit
Walstead, one of the leading European commercial printing groups, has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire LSC Communications, Inc.’s European printing business based in Poland.
Branded content agency Nemorin Creative Film and Video has appointed Graham Hayday as director of content and strategy.
Walstead, an independent commercial printing group, has announced that all conditions relating to the acquisition of NP Druck GmbH from NÖ Pressehaus, which was announced on 14 May 2018, have been met and the transaction completed on 29 June 2018.
Wyndeham has announced a two-year extension to its print contract with Hearst UK and has been awarded three additional titles by the company.
The Association for Online Publishing (AOP) yesterday announced the results of a two-year ad blocking audit among its members, showing the latest trends in ad blocking and its effects on publishers.
Design can make or break a magazine. We grab five minutes with Ian Blaza of Raspberry Jam Creative to get his thoughts on what makes good design … and what can lead to bad design.
Rhapsody has strengthened its client services team with the appointment of Dave Bibby, formerly of Williams Lea Tag, into the new role of Strategic Business Director.
Shortlist Media yesterday announced that its Creative Director Matt Phare will be broadening his remit to include creative control and management of design of Shortlist Media Family, its content studio.
Central London based pre-media company f1 Colour has announced the appointment of Les Pipe as a director of the business.
As of May 1st, Denmaur Independent Papers Ltd will be restructured as: Denmaur Paper, devoted to paper sales in the commercial print sector; and Denmaur Media, for publishers and end user customers.
Celloglas, a specialist in decorative print finishing, has been awarded Zero to Landfill and Zero Foil 2 Landfill status across all sites, having been working with their suppliers to commit to diverting waste from landfill.
