Magazine Design and Layout
Magazines are a lot more complex than they look. The layout and designs of them must be perfect, and each one has a specific emotion that is trying to be targeted. In this blog, we will be discussing the design/layout of magazines, tips for design, and hopefully serve as a guide for future use. This blog will also be discussing the designs and layouts specific to food magazines!
Magazine Design/Layout
First off, let's begin by talking about the principles of design. These principles can also be used as design tips to remember in the future, along with typography:
- Purpose: What’s the purpose of the magazine/layout you are working on? Is it image-based, story-based, formal, funny?
- Balance: Make sure your content is evenly distributed across the page/spread; don’t put too much in one part of the page/spread. Unbalanced layouts will feel uncomfortable and cause viewers to lose interest.
- Hierarchy: Do the right pieces of information stand out? Establish what is the most/least important information for a viewer, and visually indicate the levels of priority.
- Readability: Is the text easy to read? Watch out for the point size and font you use in your magazine/layout. Color choice is also crucial, so it is important to make sure that there is enough contrast between the copy and the background. (more about color in my Psychology of Color blog)
Typography is a large part of editorial design. An article that you design could include text in the form of a story, interview, or opinion, so it is important to make sure the copy you use is easy to follow and understand. Here are some tips to remember when using typography:
- Point size: Make sure the size of text chosen is readable for the audience of your magazine, and consider whether they will be looking at a page or a screen.
- Line length: The ideal line length is about 50-70 characters per line. Shorter lines will break too often, causing the reader’s eyes to move left to right way too often, while longer lines will make it hard to find the next line at each break.
- Amount of copy: When possible, break up big blocks of text; they can appear intimidating and may cause readers to lose interest. I would recommend using paragraphs, columns, threaded text frames, or lists instead.
- Entry points - Define clear starting points for your reader by using visual hierarchy, features such as Drop Caps, and highlighted text blocks (text blocks are usually used for quotes or interesting parts of articles).
Here are a few examples of what NOT to do when using typography, whether it be for a company, magazine, blog, or newspaper. The reason why these should not be used is because both fonts make it hard to read, along with looking very unprofessional being that they are both businesses.
Magazine Design/Layout Elements
Now that we have discussed a few of the tips that revolve around font use and principles of design, we must go over the elements of magazine design/layout! These are the key elements needed in magazines, and I will also be talking about how they fit into food magazines specifically.
These are the codes/terms (or main layout elements) of magazines! (more about this topic in my Components/Conventions of Food Magazines blog). Most of these, as can be seen, have to do mainly with the front cover.
- Main image
- Masthead
- Cover-lines
- Strip
- Bar-code
- Content page
- Puffs
- Double sheet spread
The main image usually covers most of the front page, and in a food magazine it is often a food or dish on the cover. In order to make the audience want to buy the magazine, the cover needs to be attractive to catch their attention. For example, on the magazine picture shown, the stack of blueberry pancakes is the main image.
The masthead lets the reader immediately know what the genre of the magazine is. The masthead is also very large, and tends to be at the top of the front cover; it usually matches the shade of the magazine cover's main image as well. For example, on the magazine shown, "good food" would be the masthead.
The cover-lines are seen normally on the left-hand side of the cover of a magazine. Important articles and selling lines are often stated in this section of the magazine cover. For example, on the magazine picture shown, cover-lines such as "10 Satisfying Comfort Dinners" are present.
The strip is the most interesting part of the magazine, because it includes information about what details will be mentioned later on in the magazine.
The bar-code tells the price of the magazine.
The content page is the page in the magazine that contains little to no images, and tells the page numbers of the articles.
A puff is the incentive placed on the cover of a magazine in order to make something stand out. Puffs are usually promotions or giveaways, therefore attracting audiences towards the magazine; it is also usually a different color from the rest of the cover so that it stands out even more. For example, on the magazine picture shown, the phrase "Classic Beef Stew" is part of a puff because it stands out to the reader.
The double sheet spread is the two-page section of the magazine that contains few images (often one large image), but is mostly made up of headings and text. As seen in this image, the food magazine has a double sheet spread of "Tasty Winter Treats", which brings the readers attention to the page through the use of fonts (discussed in blog "Font Psychology") and through the large image covering the side page.
While many tips were already talked about in this blog, here are a few bonus tips that could be impactful on future designs or layouts!
- Insert info-graphics: while images and text are the building blocks of magazines, info-graphics give a more sophisticated or professional look. Info-graphics are a great way of including complex information for what would otherwise be a very lengthy article. They make the ideas easier to absorb, and there is also a large range of styles that can be used! Info-graphics are immediately going to catch the reader's attention!
- Make use of white space: Content is obviously the most important thing on a page in magazines; however, the page, content, and the reader's eyes need room to breathe. Therefore, try to keep away from the desire to fill every page from top to bottom, with no space left blank. Leaving white space not only makes your design look stylish, but also helps to draw the eye to the content you want the readers focusing on, because too much going on can be quite off-putting and cause the reader to lose interest in the article/magazine.
Many tips and examples have been given in this blog, however let's take a closer look (analyze) a food magazine to provide some extra example and understanding.
The purpose of this magazine is to provide families with simple recipes that can be made during the holiday season of Christmas. This magazine is mainly image-based, being it is made up of recipes and pictures of main dishes. Content in this magazine also tends to be evenly spread out across the page, including the cover, because of the many cover lines equaled out on the front cover. This maintains the interest of viewers, because it is not an uneven layout. This magazine points out/ identifies the important pieces of information because of the cover lines showing the main topics that are going to be talked about in the magazine. Because of the of the color combination cooperating so well with the magazine cover, the text is easy to read and harder to read fonts, such as cursive, are in larger letters and highlighted, so as to be read easier. As stated earlier, the color choice blends very well and matches with the main image and background scheme.
Cited Work:
- ("Anatomy of a Magazine Layout,"Shumi Perhiniak) https://yesimadesigner.com/anatomy-of-a-magazine-layout/
- ("Codes & Conventions of a Food Magazine,"Muhammad Abubakar) https://prezi.com/p/ownpwmh0derq/code-conventions-of-a-food-magazine/
- ("Magazine Design: 9 Incredible Tips You Can Try Now," Andina Kanti) https://www.magloft.com/blog/incredible-magazine-design-tips/
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