Thesis- How to Make a Magazine

If I wanted to continue with creating a magazine, I had to learn how general magazines are created. Though I had a general idea, there are a lot of small details that could go unnoticed. I wanted to make sure this was as real as possible, and could possible get professionally printed in the near future. Here is what I learned on how to create a magazine.

Images, Images, Images

It cannot be said enough that images are very important for any magazine. They need to be very visual for readers to become engaged. Though there are articles and many words, I believe the images create their own narrative for the reader surf through. If you take a look at Rolling Stones, Vogue, or any other name brand magazine they are filled with high end photos to captivate threader. The most important image of them all is the cover image. Based on Lucid Press, "Make sure you are using a high-quality image. A minimum of 300 ppi is necessary for print magazines. Your cover image is what is going to draw your audience in. It should match the topic of your magazine, be large and easy to take in at a glance, and have appealing colors". The front page says everything about your magazine. Just from a glance, readers should be engaged but also have an idea on what the theme of the magazine is about. Playing around with the title and the cover image could also be benificial. Tuts Plus explains, "Allowing photos to ‘interact’ with typography is also a great way of making cool magazine covers appear more 3D, and gives the impression that the photo is jumping out at you. Cut the subject of the photo away from the background, and layer them so that parts of the subject are brought in front of text and others behind". The front cover is only a taste. There should be a layout to incorporate other images along with the text that will explain the imagery.

Typeface Choices

Though this one seems easy, it can easily be overlooked. No matter what magazine you look at, each brand has their header and body typefaces consistent no matter what issue. This creates a brand image, and keeps each consistent. You must also able to choose fonts that compliment each other. Finding a sans serif heading, and a serif body will be able to tell the audience you style. It can be playful, or more on the fancier side. As Tuts Plus explains, "Photos and color may change with each issue, but typography will remain a constant, so take the time to consider the sort of personality you want your magazine to have, and do your research to find the right typeface that will communicate this". The type will become part of the brand, and will be easily reconizable for viewers to find a relationship between the typeface and your magazine. Once this is established, you can set rules for point size based of the try of text. Headings should be big and bold, while body text should be smaller and formatted so that there are no rags(if the text is not justified). This is something that will stay consistent throughout the magazine, so setting a system even before designing will be beneficial for success.

Stay Consistent

Though this is rooted in the style of the magazine, this also address the very layout of the magazine. Many magazines I have seen keep a specific layout and theme throughout the entire issue. There may be some rule breakers to this grid, however it is accompanied by other elements such as images, headings, body texts, pull quotes, and etc that make it feel natural. If a magazine has a main color, expect to see that color throughout the magazine. as Tuts Plus explains, "A well-designed magazine will have elements of consistency which are shared across the whole design, from cover to cover. This thematic design is the hallmark of a professional and carefully considered magazine". You must think of this as one unit, not separate pages. A reader should be able to flip into any random part of the magazine and be able to see a theme to the issue.

Contents Page

One element that I did not know was present was a contents page. In other words, this a table of contents that will highlight everything in your magazine. At first I felt confused as to why a magazine would need this and figured only books needed this. However, after viewing a couple of examples, It is clear to me that the contents page can be interesting and is important to the very layout. You can have some creativity with this, and even include photos to give readers a taste of what each section brings.

This was just a few elements I have come to learning diving into how to create a magazine. With this knowledge, this will help me greatly with my final thesis project