Whether you’re an aspiring designer or an expert, there’s a magazine for you. Eye on design, published by AIGA, is an excellent source for in-depth analysis of graphic design art. The magazine’s cover art is designed by a guest artist and retains the laser-cut eye icon. And don’t forget to subscribe to the AIGA newsletter! You’ll learn something new every month!
While thousands of graphic design magazines are available on the internet, a few stand out above the rest. Before & After is an excellent resource for those who want to learn the basics of this field. You can also get valuable information on new products and technologies in the IT world. It also includes interesting articles about computer art and technology. You can read their articles and learn about the latest trends in graphic design while you’re reading. You might want to check out a few other publications, Digital Arts, CMYK, and Graphis.
Tips for Designing High-Impact Magazines
Don’t be shy with your Cover Design
The magazines with the most attractive covers always have beautiful bodies. There’s no need to spend time working on the inside of your publication if the casual readers do not notice the magazine to check it out. A striking magazine cover is essential to promote your publication to the public and encourage them to go into the issue.
However, your magazine cover design isn’t required to be overly flashy. A rainbow of color and a cluttered layout could look cheap and outdated; however, well-balanced, solid headers and subheadings paired with clear, graphic callouts make magazines stand out with their cool covers with a gentler approach.
A Single Single Color The Loudest Shouts!
The most successful magazine designs employ color sparingly, proving that a single bright color pop can be more impressive than a palette of rainbow-colored brights.
A single bright color, black-and-white photography, and monochrome text make a stunning combination of masculine magazines and tech titles. The colorful typography, banners, and dividers add a sporty, masculine look to layouts.
You can try using a bright hot or acid-yellow to create a bright pop of color that is great for extreme sports titles and travel magazines.
Spend time enhancing your content Page
After the user opens the issue, the content page is the first thing they see. The page’s contents should be user-friendly and allow the user to locate articles and sections quickly and is also the ideal spot to play with creative flair.
If your magazine contains lots of material, do not limit your publication to one page. Instead, branch out to a complete two-page spread. It will allow ample space to present an expansive “Contents“ header (try using an imposing slab serif typeface for typography) and a variety of attractive images.
Table of Contents is the most popular type of magazine spread based on a grid, but it’s not required to be dull or restrictive. Look at the wacky photo grid in the sports magazine’s content spread. The mixture of small and big images is exciting but not chaotic. The pulled-out tags provide context to each image. The attractive, large page numbers in yellow, blue, and black are immediately visible and make navigating the magazine’s contents an easy task.
The Illustrations in magazines make them unique
Take a look at any magazine on the shelf, and you’ll see that the majority of attractive magazine covers feature photos as their media of choice. But, a cover with illustrations is a unique and stylish cover and is an ideal option for arts, tech, and design magazines. Flat, trendy graphics are easy to design and help your magazine appear more contemporary.
Learn to use Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, or Inkscape to create vector images that you can easily incorporate into the InDesign magazine templates.
Vectors can be a fantastic way to convey more abstract or fantastical ideas. As a result, they are the ideal option for magazines that aren’t in the traditional lifestyle or fashion niches.
Minimal Fashion Magazines for Fashion
If you’re creating magazines for lifestyle or fashion-related content, the challenge lies in making your design trendy, inspiring, and chic. Simple designs are an ideal blank canvas for fashion images and retail displays and draw attention to minimalist, stylish print design trends. It’s the perfect layout for magazines that cover these subjects.
Let photos be the main focus of your layouts. Allow them to fill the majority of your page. Combine them with a simple pastel or white background and striking black typography, such as this elegant design template for fashion magazines.
Serifs Look Aspirational; Sans Serifs Look Cool
Typography plays a vital role in putting your magazine on the marketplace and gives the magazine a distinct character and mood. Typography styles may have a specific association with popular magazines. Think of Vogue and think of Didot Think of National Geographic and think of Stone Sans.
Over time, we’ve been trained to associate certain types of styles with certain magazines. You can utilize this knowledge to your advantage when creating personal magazines.
For instance, suppose you’re designing for a publication for fashion. If you’re trying to make the appearance more lavish, costly, and sophisticated, You can use an elegant serif font like Didot or Bodoni to create a Vogue-inspired elegance.
Create Beautiful Photos as the Main Goal
If you’re lucky enough to have stunning photos to showcase within your publication, make it the main focal point of your magazine’s layout. People typically purchase magazines solely because of the pictures, while the text serves as a supporting element.
Travel, fashion, and nature magazines such as the one on this template for travel magazines are often designed with layouts around one stunning image.
Don’t be afraid of blowing images to the size of a book. Many of the most beautiful magazine layouts do this. The idea of dedicating an entire spread or page to one embodiment will look stunning.
Design a style theme and stick to it!
A well-designed magazine will have consistent elements of uniformity across the entire layout, covering to cover. This theme-based design is an indication of a professional and thoughtfully designed magazine.
Take inspiration from this highly inspired magazine design that introduces a couple of key features on the front cover, which can be seen on both pages.
An ethereal color palette is created using soft tones. The theme is rectangles and blocks and a unison typographic style.
Make Spreads your focus, not Pages.
When designing the magazine, it’s not uncommon to overlook that it will be bound and printed into two-page spreads. The reader will not be able to absorb pages in isolation but rather the whole space. It’s easy to see how the most appealing magazines employ them in their practice.
It is possible to enhance the reading experience by making your magazine more engaging by keeping this thought when designing: “Think in spreads, not in pages.”
If you’re making your magazine’s layout in Adobe InDesign, it’s not an issue because the design of magazine spreads is included in the software. The document should be set to facing pages (File and Document Settings), which will convert the layout into reader’s pages (laid out in the same manner as a reader reads it).
Best Graphic Design magazines
ACM’S IX
ACM’s IX Interactions magazine is an excellent resource for the design community. Issues focus on specific topics and feature the perspectives of the design community. Suppose you are looking for a new magazine to subscribe to; look no further than ACM’s IX Interactions. This magazine has been around for more than 30 years and is an essential read for the design community.
It is the oldest design magazine in Germany, and it has been a favorite among creative people ever since. It features stories from creative professionals and business owners. The magazine is a great place to get the latest information on new technologies and trends in the design world. Each issue contains an article about an influential designer or studio sent to subscribers. For only $10, subscribers receive a monthly problem. You can subscribe to as many as you like – whichever one appeals to you most.
Eye Magazine
Besides providing insights into graphic design, Eye magazine features various types of plans. Its goal is to give the reader an inside look at the world of computers. For example, it may have stories about people in the IT industry, while a computer art magazine may focus on the computer arts. For instance, Offscreen’s blog includes articles on the relationship between technology and the arts. In addition to publishing stories and photos, Offscreen also features a weekly email newsletter.
Disegno Daily is a British-based magazine that is published four times each year. It is famous for its unique take on design as well as its highly acclaimed cover page. The magazine also has important writing and occasions, and the content is diverse based on its subject matter. It’s a great option for those who want to know more about the most recent fashions in design. Therefore, make sure you take the time to research the information on the most recent development in this area. Make sure you sign up for both.