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.
Celloglas, a specialist in decorative print finishing, has achieved the BPIF HR Seal of Excellence Award across all of its three sites, demonstrating, says the company, their commitment to their growing team and making them a key part of the company’
The digital solutions team at ESco recently announced the launch of a new service aimed at publishers' editorial and production teams.
Branded video is a growth area for publishers. We grab five minutes with Pete Fergusson, CEO of Nemorin Film & Video, to find out why.
Rhapsody, the media production agency, has announced the appointment of Lloyd Hayzer who has joined the company from Williams Lea Tag in the role of Account Director EMEA.
Hutch Hicken's article in the Publishing Partners Guide 2018
WoodWing Software and SPRYLAB have announced a milestone in their partnership. SPRYLAB’s Purple DS mobile app creation software is now integrated with WoodWing’s Enterprise solution.
With the start-up of PM5, described as the most modern packaging machine of its kind, Leipa says it will be transforming nearly 1.5 million tonnes of recovered paper back into high quality paper and packaging products in 2018.
The latest high productivity P version Stahlfolder will be delivered to the Buxton plant at the end of the month.
Stephens & George Print Group will complete a £5m finishing investment programme in March when it takes delivery of a third high output Stahlfolder TH82-P from Heidelberg.
Walstead, one of Europe’s leading independent printing businesses, has expanded its senior management team with the appointment of Andy Berg to the new role of Group Managing Director for its digital businesses which provide content, pre-media, digit
Rhapsody, the cross-media production agency, has announced that Tim Moscow has been appointed as Managing Director of the business following Les Pipe’s decision to step down.
Elle, Hearst’s fashion media brand, has announced the appointment of Tom Meredith as Creative Director of Elle UK.
Bauer Media Group has selected SPRYLAB technologies to be its global, interactive e-publishing platform provider of choice.
The Magazine Production Company has welcomed to its team Michael O’Neill, who will offer advertising sales services to its clients.
Canvasflow has launched version 2.0 of its HTML5 authoring platform, for creating rich, responsive content without the need for developers. Version 2.0 provides deeper integration with the Twixl Digital Publishing Platform.
