Advisory steps from a WebDesign page to making a successful and engaging magazine.

1. http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/great-magazine-cover-design-tips/
1. Guides and Templates
It isimportantfor a magazine tobe consistentindesign,notonlyfromone page toanother,butalso
fromone editiontothe nextone.All the bigbrandssuch as SportsIllustrated,FHM(example below),
Cosmopolitan,Reader’sDigestorMen’sHealthhave a style thattheykeepfora longtime before
decidingtototallyrevampit.It’slike webdesign,changingyourpage’sdesigntoooftenwill nothelp
youbuild a strongvisual identity.
The basic ideaisthat youhave to keepthe same layoutandstylesthroughoutandthiswill make the
readerscome back formore.Do not considerall these guides,templatesorsheetsasrules,butas
frameworksyouhave tobuildonwhenyoudesignamagazine cover.Now I’mnot sayingeverything
has to lookexactlythe same,butIwouldsetup mypositioning,gridsandguidesanduse themfor
everycoverthatI designedforaspecificmagazine.
2. Planning in advance
The cover can be the elementof amagazine thattakesthe mosttime to design,because itisalsothe
mostimportantone.If the readersdon’tlike it,theyare lesslikelytobuythe edition.Therefore you
have to put a lotof effortandthoughtintoit before actually startingtodesign.Askyourselfwhat
youwant to achieve withthe coverandwhy.Whichcoloursor setof coloursshouldyouuse andthe
impacttheyhave on the readers’mind.Itcan be intriguing,fascinating orstandout; eitherway,you
needa lotof time tothinkaboutit.
Unfortunatelythisdoesn’talwayswork,becausewe all know thatworkingonpaperisnot the same
as actuallydesigning.The colorsmightnotbe good,the contrast mightbe too low or high,titles
mightnot fitinwell because of the amountof letters,imagesmayhave issuesandsoon.We all
experience thisonce inawhile.Itisalwaysa goodideato have a back-upplanwhichwill spare you
some time if the firstideascan’tbe achieved.
3. Inspiration
If you are notinspired,then getinspired.If youalwaysworkwithinthe same style atsome pointin
time yourcreativitymightgetlimited,butfortunatelythere are waystoavoidthis.Don’tbe boring
and rememberthatyouneedtostirup some emotionsinthe readerwhenhe turnsthe page.If you
feel uninspired,take abrief lookatotherpublications,seehow they’re doingor,the mostpopular
method,goand take a walk.Relaxingisgoodforyourmindand youwill come backhome or to the
office withfreshideas.
.4. Typography
As a designer,youdecidehowthe informationisprovidedtothe reader.If youdo itproperly,then
the titleswill alwaysstandoutandthe mostimportantinformationwill be easytofind.Youcan see
inthe image belowthatevenif there are few coloursandnoimagesonthe page,the designer
managedto make youwant to readthe contenton the leftpage.He didit throughtypography,
headlines,pull quotes,fontcoloursandhierarchy.