If you are looking at launching a new publication or thinking of refreshing your existing magazine design then toast are the ideal agency to help you with this.
There are some simple rules you can follow to ensure that the design of the magazine increases readership and promotes your product/service successfully, these include:
1. Identify and engage with the audience
2. Content, content, content
3. Cover is king
4. Hierarchy of magazine design elements
5. Cross platform versions
Following these rules will help create a fantastic magazine. Let’s take a look at these in a little more detail.
1. Identify and engage with the audience
The target audience is fundamental to how the magazine should look, what design style to use and the quality and quantity of the content. Tailoring these elements will ensure your magazine design engages, informs and retains your audience.
2. Content, content, content
Well written and informative content is a must, no use in designing a magazine that looks great but has no substance. The tone of voice is important and must be consistent throughout the magazine and subsequent issues. Leave the viewer wanting more, give them links to pages of your website for further information and past issues. Add links to your social media accounts to create interest and debate.
3. Cover is king
The cover is the most important page of the magazine design as this is the page many viewers will see first. The cover has to work on several levels; it has to be unique, stand out from the crowd and be visually strong. It also has to appeal to your target audience and give a ‘tid bit’ of information to intrigue and entice the viewers to read the contents.
4. Hierarchy of magazine design elements
You will have seen some stunning and experimental magazine designs. For these to work they will contain a well defined hierarchy of design elements (typography, images, grids, headers, page folios etc) to help guide the viewer through the layout of the magazine and make it easy to navigate from article to article. Using consistent design elements, styles, colours and fonts will also help establish a look and personality to the magazine.
5. Cross platform versions
The magazine design and printing is not the end of the process. Creating other digital formats that your audience can engage with is just as important. These can be produced in several ways (click here to see more about epublishing), and now have the potential to reach a much wider audience.
If you’re looking for an agency to work on your magazine design, just get in contact with us and one of our team will be able to talk to you about how we can create something stunning.
