Magazine Tips

 

Magazine Design and Layout Guide

When designing a magazine cover, or even the content pages, it's critical to have a basic understanding of how to make a high-impact magazine. From the cover of the magazine to the actual content pages, it's very important to choose the right design and layout for your magazine. Below, you will find 10 very helpful tips and tricks on how to make the most impactful magazine that is able to reach the right audience and keep your readers engaged and interested in the content.  
Layout and Design Template of a Fashion Magazine

1. Start Strong with the Cover 

When shoppers are looking around for a magazine to purchase, yours has to stand out. The purpose of your cover is to attract the browser's attention. This is why it's placed on the front of your magazine. What's the point of putting all your effort and good work in the inside content if your cover photo cannot attract the buyer's eyes? There is no point! For that reason, perfecting your magazine's cover is critical to whether or not the rest of the magazine is time worthy. 

While your cover needs to be able to grab a reader's attention, too much color and over-the-board details can cause it look cheap and old-fashioned. A subtle and simple yet trendy design can produce the best magazine cover. Sticking to subtle colors, an attention-catching main image, and interesting headings and coverlines is the best way to make your dream cover. 

In order to achieve that, you can use the ABC rule used by some of the most famous magazine designers. With this rule, you have the ability to make a balanced cover with a proper layout that can attract readers. It includes three elements in addition to your images:
A for masthead or title of the magazine 
B for subheading or the main focus issue or article of the magazine edition
C for all the other smaller details or subheadings 

Example Magazine Cover

2. Make Your Subject Live


Whether it's the magazine cover or content pages, it's important to include interesting pages or designs. This allows the readers to feel engaged and interested in the content they're reading. You, as the designer, can achieve this by making the main subject seem living or like it's part of the real-life picture. In other words, editing your main pictures of a model or subject is critical to making an interesting design. 

For instance, in fashion magazines or just magazines that have a model on the cover in general, designers might edit the cover in a way that makes the model seem like they're covering the text or usually the masthead. Vogue is a great example of this editing detail as they use it very often in which they put the main model on the cover in a way that she is covering the masthead or a part of the design so that the image "pops".

Below, Dua Lips, the main model in the Vogue cover, is covering the masthead. Well-known magazine publishers usually do this as their name is well-known across the fashion world. Here, the way that Dua is placed "Infront" of the text or how part of the title is edited off so that she looks like she is sitting infront of the masthead in real life make the cover look more alive and interesting to the readers. 
Vogue Magazine Cover 

Another way to make the image seems more "alive" is by editing the text of an article or issue around the main subject of the image. This can be done by wrapping the text around the main subject so that it covers the white background while the subject does not cover it up, unlike the previous example. Instead of having empty white space in your page, you can have an interesting design. This allows for a unified look to be created and makes for an interesting eye-catching design. 
Wrapped Text Around Main Subject

3. Pull Your Readers with a Quote

Teasers or coverlines on your magazine's cover can attract the reader's attention. While browsing around, a quote teasing or hinting at the inside content of your issue can catch a buyer's eye. This can then lead them to pick up the magazine and as a result, they will buy your magazine because of their interest in the content inside. Therefore, picking a good quote can have a huge effect on your magazine. 

When talking about your magazine cover, a quote from an article or interview inside can be a great way to attract readers or casual browsers. The quote can provide a glimpse of the inside information and what the reader will expect. This allows for an excitement about what the upcoming content might be and therefore leading the buyer to purchase the magazine. 

On the other hand, in an actual inside article, pull quotes can give a little overview of the most interesting point of the article. In an interview, they can quote the most surprising part of it. These pull quotes can also grab the reader's attention while skimming through the magazine's content. 

Below, for example, there is a pull quote in the yellow triangle on the spread. The pop of color automatically attracts the reader's eye and that leads them to read the interesting quote. Thes specific deign will use larger sizes of fonts along with popping, bright colors compared to the rest of the content surrounding it. These pull quotes can range from engaging statements, inspirational lines, interesting citations, or interview quotes. Ultimately, these quotes can allow for an eye-catching page or cover to be made. 
Magazine Spread with a Pull Quote 

4. Consistency is Key 

When creating a whole magazine, it is extremely critical to stick to a consistent theme so that your design is not "choppy". A well-organized magazine with a specific theme appears more professional and eye-catching than a magazine with random colors and different designs. Not only that, but it allows your content to go well together from the cover page to the back cover.

Having constant elements throughout your magazine allows the readers to be more focused on the content while still enjoying the design. You can achieve this by choosing specific color schemes, shapes, and fonts. This allows your magazine to not only be consistent, but also easy to remember. This does not mean that they have to be the same, you just have to ensure that you are being consistent with those elements. Overall, your design should go together; if the buyer would have the cover and content pages side by side, they would know it's the same magazine. 

For instance, take the picture below as an example; the color scheme is a pastel teal color with multiple tones. The background is white, and the font is serif with usually a black color. Looking at all the pages side by side, you can definitely tell that those 5 pages go together into one magazine. Therefore, you want to aim for a seamless design that aligns with every page.
Magazine Theme Example 


5. Spread the Layout

When designing your magazine, you have to keep in mind that the readers will look at it in a spread format whether it is or not. Therefore, you have to make sure that there is a seamless transition between the two facing pages. Ensuring that the designs matchup is also critical in designing the magazine. Your magazine's layout should be designed according to that idea being said. When making your design, make sure to remember that you should make it in a sense that it's two pages together and not one. This will allow you to have an aesthetically pleasing design that attracts the readers. 

Using online editing sites to do this is extremely helpful. Platforms such as Adobe InDesign and Canva allow you to make a two-page spread with many helpful features. They both give you the ability to design a layout of your choice. The online sites or even the apps can provide you with the format and a preview of how it would look. In other words, they allow you to format a two-page spread very efficiently. 

Below, you can see an example of an inside spread of a magazine. Emma Waston, the celebrity who the article on the right is about, is in the image on the left. This means that the two pages are connected in some way. 
Fashion Magazine Spread 


6. Interest with an Image 


While the topography, colors, and details of your magazine are important, there is one overlooked factor that plays a huge role on how effective the cover is. That would be the image of your front cover. When a person is browsing for a magazine to read, interesting photography on the cover is the biggest element for catching their attention. In fact, interesting images are what most readers look for when browsing through magazines. 

Taking multiple photos first is essential in order to be able to get the perfect image for your cover. From fashion magazines to food magazines, they all pick a very interesting and eye-catching image because well, that's the first thing that the reader sees. With that being the main focus, having it be interesting will temp the readers to read further on into the magazine. From then, you can base the surrounding designs and elements around it along with the color scheme. Your image doesn't have to be basic, try to play around with angles and designs. As a result, you will have created a very interesting and attention-worthy magazine cover. 
Vogue Cover Page 


7. Inform with Infographics 


Magazines are a great way to take your mind away from social media and the internet. Not only are they enjoyable, but they can in fact provide you with a lot of information. An infographic is a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data. In modern magazines, this has been a common trend to include infographics. They give your magazine pages a digital feel, making it more exciting. This allows the information being presented in them to appear more interactive for your readers. 

Especially when dealing with a content-heavy article, infographics are the best way to present that information. They can include charts, graphs, boxes, tips, and way more. This enables you to section your content in a way that can be engaging for the readers. Ultimately, including these infographics, especially in fashion magazines, is a great way of incorporating the information with a simple yet interesting layout. 
Fashion Magazine infographic 


8. Color Pops Go a Long Way

Color, color, color! You might already know that colors are critical in designing the highest-impact magazine, but that's not all. A pop of color-whether it's bright or pastel-can go a long way in your cover. In other words, incorporating pops of color in your magazine without being too extra is a great way to design a perfect magazine. This doesn't mean that you should put all colors on your page, but it means that you should pick your color scheme- one that has complementary colors- which could go along with your image and theme. 

Picking one dominant color and pairing it with monochrome text and black and white designs is one of the easiest design tips. Not only that, but you can always experiment with colors before deciding on one. Adobe and Canva have a color wheel which allows you to pick the best colors for your design. For instance, having a solid black and white image then adding a bright blue color to it gives it a lively, yet simple look. Ultimately, picking one color in the color wheel to work with and then build around is a great way to build your magazine design. 
Vogue Magazine Cover Page 

In the cover above, the main image is black and white. From there, the designer uses a red pop of color which gives it an elegant and professional look, which when you're designing a magazine, is your ultimate goal. 


9. Less Is More

While it might be well-known, in any magazine genre, less it more. In other words, having a minimal design is perfect for your magazine. This doesn't mean that you should include barely any detail, but you should instead be simple. Especially when you're designing a fashion or lifestyle magazine, a simple look is trendy and stylish. Patel colors and minimal designs are the way to go when making every page on your magazine. This allows your readers to stay focused on the actual content and not get distracted by all the colors and details. This is the best approach for magazines on lifestyle and trendy topics. 

You can achieve this design by having your photo be the center of your design as mentioned in a previous tip. Avoid too much decoration on your cover and pages and move the details around to see the perfect fit for them. Also, stick to your main theme and color scheme. When you work it all together, you can produce the most stylish magazine that you could want.  
Vogue Cover Page 

10. Use Illustrations 


From Adobe InDesign to Canva, online editing has become very easy to do using these platforms. While it might take a lot of experimentation, placing simple and minimal illustrated graphics in your content pages is a great way of adding a special touch to the magazine. They are able to play an important role in affecting the final look of that specific page. In addition, they give the page a stylish and unique touch to look at. 

However, it is extremely important that you do not overuse them but rather utilize them for an additional unique look on the content or image. They can easily complement the layout of your magazine making it aesthetically pleasing on the reader's eyes. In conclusion, these little online graphics can have a huge design effect on the final product. 
Illustrated Graphics Spread 

Connection and Conclusion 

As you can see, there are lots of tip and tricks that you can utilize to make your dream high-impact magazine. These are not the only ones, but they are critical to designing your magazine. When looking at fashion magazines, particularly, they use all 10 od these tips in these designs. Fashion magazine designers like to make the trendiest, most stylish, and yet most simplistic magazine that they can possibly design. When making a cover, they choose minimal designs, interesting model images and poses, pops of color, the ABC rules, etc. On the overall magazine, they also keep is very consistent, allowing the reader to process the content more clearly. Ultimately, their goal is to entertain as well as inform these readers, and without following these tips, it would be extremely hard to do so. In conclusion, magazines have very cortical steps and tricks that you need to know in order to make a high-impact, trendy edition of them.



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