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.
Roularta Printing is now printing and shipping hundreds of thousands of copies into the UK for British publishers, including for time-sensitive weekly titles, as Steven Renders and Bart Declercq tell James Evelegh.
The British Society of Magazine Editors has unveiled the shortlist for the BSME Awards 2025.
The task for publishers is to turn AI advances in image creation and editing into repeatable workflows. Derek Milne, commercial pixometrist at Pixometry, explains how this can be done.
Publishers wanting to harness the true potential of AI around workflow efficiency, should approach implementations strategically. Tom Pijsel, VP product management at WoodWing, explains how this can be achieved.
Continuing their campaign of reinvestment into their bindery, Warners Midlands have announced they have added another palletiser to boost efficiencies.
James Evelegh picks out some of the many top tips from InPublishing’s recent ‘Celebration of Print’.
James Evelegh picks out three titles that are selling considerably more copies now than they did 25 years ago.
The purpose of this special feature is to remind us of print’s enduring appeal and to garner insights and tip tips from leading publishers and suppliers on how to execute profitable print publishing strategies.
Print is no longer the default. It’s the premium format. It has presence, weight, and staying power, says Mike Hoy, CEO of Papermule.
Publishers wishing to reduce the cost of their printed publication or improve its sustainability credentials have a number of options, says Julian Townsend, publishing paper sales director at Denmaur.
The two main areas where attention should be focused on are paper & inks and energy, says Steven Renders, general manager of Roularta Printing.
Today’s technology and materials provide the best of all worlds, allowing for stunning creativity, sustainability, and sensory engagement, says Kirk Galloway, CEO and MD of Buxton Press.
If you want results; if you want to build something commercially successful, remarkable, and long-lasting, you need to think creatively, says Chris Ferrari-Wills, national sales manager at The Manson Group.
The printed magazine will be a cherished part of people’s lives for years to come, says Jon Bickley, co-founder and CEO. That is why it’s the key component in Anthem’s publishing strategy.
A well-structured PDF can serve as an ideal foundation for a compelling digital edition, says Jason Mengers, managing director at Touch Tree Technology.
