The document summarizes the author's experience visiting a newsstand and analyzing various travel magazines. The author was most drawn to "Coastal Living: The Travel Issue" due to its simple and visually appealing design, photography, and article concepts. The magazine had a minimalistic cover design with brief descriptive text wrapped around a central outdoor image. Internally, it utilized white space and categorized sections to aid navigation. The author hopes to emulate the magazine's design principles and photography style, which focuses on scenic beach and coastal locations.

1. TRAVEL MAGAZINES
Megan Shea, Travel Magazines, “Coastal Living”

2. Newsstand Visit
The publication “Coastal Living: The Travel Issue” caught
my eye because I liked the simplicity of the front page
design. In comparison to the other travel magazines there,
it had the most visually appealing photography. It also had
the best concepts advertised in the coverlines. I felt the
stories in the table of contents and articles were the most
interesting and would likely gain the best readership.

3. Reflection on visit…
◦ In doing this project, I learned through experience what initially attracts a reader. I learned that
personally, I gravitated toward picking up more minimalistic designed covers. The photos also
influenced my decision. Those with less distracting, simple cover images caught my attention. The
more appealing magazines only utilized a few coverlines so as to not overwhelm the reader.
Otherwise, I felt some magazines looked like a chore to read based on the business of the cover.
◦ I liked the more simply formatted pieces. Everything is broken up into small, more manageable
lists and paragraphs to keep the reader’s attention and prevent a loss of interest that often occurs
from lengthy articles. Everything is accompanied by pictures, which I also preferred.

4. Most inspirational…
◦ (Selfie on slide two with magazine)
◦ “Coastal Living: The Travel Issue” was my favorite publication. I admired the design decisions made as well
as the simplistic photography. It is the type of magazine I hope to emulate on my own. I liked how the
overall appeal of the magazine was reliant on the photography. The coverlines were fairly brief, which I also
thought was a strong feature of the magazine. That way, readers are more enticed to read the actual article, as
the coverlines gave nothing away.
◦ I thought the design was something that was reasonable to try and replicate, as the photography is
predominately of scenery, and Florida provides good opportunities to capture similar shots.

17. ◦ My magazine specifically detailed California, Mexico, Italy, the Caribbean, and Hawaii. It gave hotel
suggestions and showed pictures. It also gave suggestions on what to do while in these places. It informed
what each trip destination was known for. It also described what kind of oceans and beaches to expect in
Turks and Caicos with accompanying visuals.
◦ It details an open-air house in Hawaii and the concept behind/why it was created and what purpose it serves
its guests. It gave recipes to various seafood dishes.
◦ It also gave home décor tips based on what style home and lifestyle the reader leads. It also has a feature on a
man who makes wood paneled kayaks.
◦ It also features a small island called Little Corn Island with accompanying photography.
◦ The magazine is directed to more upscale, worldy audience- obviously interested in the idea of living or
vacationing seaside.

18. Questions…
◦ Generally, the central image is a beach scene, or some picture-esque location. They often include furniture or
interior décor. Often, they use long shots.
◦ The photos are generally taken in the location that issue details, which is usually a vacation destination
outside.
◦ They almost always have a puff and the same font is always used for the masthead although the color
changes. The layout of the coverlines is almost always the same-they are organized down the sides of the
image, with one side noticeably longer with content.

19. I liked this cover the best for several reasons.
I really liked the cover photo and thought the horizon
in the photo perfectly suited the size of the magazine.
I thought the dog and caption advertising pet friendly
resorts was a very clever way to advertise that story.
The puff also caught my attention and was created in
a tasteful way- it didn’t look tacky. I liked how the
coverlines wrapped around the central image. All of
the coverline content also looked very interesting and
the phrasing was very appealing.

20. Because this is a subscription
only publication, I was only
able to find this picture of a
table of contents from Coastal
Living online.

21. The table of contents picture I was able to find followed the style of the cover in that it was very simple as far
as layout. It was easy to read with minimal text and softer, nautical design colors.
Everything was categorized to make the magazine easier to navigate. It utilized a lot of white space, which
helped to keep the page not busy looking. The photos were on the right side, and text on the left. IT made it
easier to read and visually appealing this way.

24. ◦ Both spreads come from similarly designed covers. Both covers briefly advertised the article on the right side
in a neat column wrapped around a central image. The central image were very simple, outdoor décor in the
forefront of a beach scene. Both were very formal and designed very minimalist. Both articles are concerned
with aspects of design and both utilize accompanying photos to break up the articles and make them more
manageable to read.