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.
Telford-based Precision Colour Printing (PCP) has announced details of an order for an RMGT (Mitsubishi) 1050 Tandem Perfector press to replace an existing Mitsubishi machine and enhance its sheet-fed printing capabilities.
Headley, the 135-year old Kent based magazine printer, has been put up for sale.
Buxton Press is replacing four folders with two to achieve a net 20% increase in folding output. Two MBO folders and two older Stahlfolders will give way to two Stahlfolder TH 82-P machines, a model launched at Drupa this year.
The Printing Charity announced at its 189th Annual Luncheon on 3 November that The Rt Hon. the Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde has accepted its invitation to be the charity’s 2017 President.
UPM is planning to permanently reduce its graphic paper capacity in Europe by 305,000 tonnes. The capacity reductions are planned to take place in Austria and Germany.
Two trends underpin the global newspaper market today: sales of print newspapers are in decline but revenue from print far outstrips that from digital. Should publishers axe their print operations and focus on digital or should they nurture print and
UPM Paper ENA has announced that it is simplifying its organisational structure.
Jim Algar, formerly of Polestar, has been appointed the new Production Director at Ancient House, the Ipswich based magazine printers.
The Rt. Hon the Lord Blunkett is this year’s guest speaker at The Printing Charity’s’ 189th Annual Luncheon on Thursday, 3 November 2016, at Stationers’ Hall, Ave Maria Lane, London.
The Print Futures Awards continue to grow with a record 88 applicants and 50 winners this year, says The Printing Charity.
The Printing Charity has confirmed Neil Lovell’s appointment as the charity’s permanent Chief Executive and Secretary. He was appointed to the role on an interim basis in February this year.
When it comes to printing, newspapers and magazines have always seemed a bit like chalk and cheese. They might both use paper and ink, but otherwise they’re completely different. Not anymore! As Newssolutions’ Tracey Hart and Steve Whitehead tell Jam
ATG Media Production, the Peterborough based magazine design and production business, has entered into an agreement with Kelsey Media to deliver their whole copy chasing and production business.
vjoon, a leading developer of software solutions for managing digital content and the maker of vjoon K4, has signed DPCI as a direct integration partner in the US market.
Stephens & George Print Group based in Dowlais, South Wales is commissioning four new Muller Martini print finishing systems.
