Creating a magazine is a great way to share your thoughts on paper. You can create a handmade magazine, or use a computer program to design and print a professional-quality one. Here's how to do it.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Getting Started
Step 1. Create a theme or focus
What will be the main topic of your magazine? Remember that most magazines are niche publications that cater to a very specific audience.
- Ask yourself - Will it be a single release or the first of a series? If it's part of a series, what's the overall theme?
- Try to design your magazine title from your underlying theme. Note that many magazines have one or two word titles, such as TIME, National Geoprahic, Rolling Stones and Forbes). A short title can summarize the theme well and will be easier to manage in the project.
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What is the central element of this publication? How can you use it to tie all content together?
A good example of themed releases are the special editions of "Sports Illustrated". All contents are related to the main element
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What is the title of the release? If necessary what is the title of the series?
Examples of titled releases are Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue, Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue, and Vogue's September Issue
Step 2. Decide how to assemble your magazine
The method you choose to make your magazine can determine how you will collect and incorporate content. Here are some things to consider:
- While a glossy, computer graphics look is the magazine standard, making one without using a computer can give your magazine a vintage look. However, this will take a lot of time and skill, so it is a possibility reserved for those with more experience.
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InDesign is the standard (but very expensive) design tool for digital magazines. The font is often written and edited with InCopy, an InDesign companion program. As an alternative, some publishers use Quark.
If these options don't fit your budget, Office Publisher could be an effective alternative
Step 3. Set deadlines
When do you plan to finish the magazine? Ask yourself if you are setting realistic expectations, and if you can finish the magazine and distribute it to readers before the deadline.
A deadline is more important if you have to deal with periodic releases, or if you are planning a date for an annual event
Method 2 of 3: Create Content
Step 1. Write articles, columns and stories
What do you want to tell your readers? Whatever your magazine is about, you will need textual content. Here are some possibilities to consider:
- Write articles on topics that matter to you and your staff. Do they address humanitarian issues? Are they topical? Do they offer advice or interviews to interesting people?
- Write short stories to give your magazine a more personal touch. They can be real or fictional according to the relevance to the topic.
- Find old poems, or ask your friends to publish their work in your magazine. They will give the magazine an artistic air.
- Collaborating with friends to get different perspectives is a great way to vary your content.
Step 2. Collect images
Even if you focus on written content, magazines are a visual medium. Beautiful images will keep readers interested and add another dimension to articles.
- Choose photographs that are relevant to your content. Be sure to include photos with blank and neutral spaces; they are great to use as a background for your written content.
- Create a photojournalism project. It means exploring a topic in depth and guiding the reader through a series of photos. It is a great option for people with strong photographic skills.
- Search for Creative Commons licensed images on the net. While these photos are free, be sure to read if you need to cite the author, need permission to alter the photos, or you can use the photos for non-commercial purposes only.
- Buy images from a database. While it is a slightly more expensive route, the photos will be taken with the intention of being sold, and it will be easier to find images that fit your content.
- Draw your own designs, or get help from someone who can. It is a recommended choice for an art magazine.
Step 3. Design a cover
Your magazine cover should give readers a taste of everything they'll find inside, without revealing too much. Here are some ways to do it:
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Make sure the title is prominent. Although many magazines change the color of the title from issue to issue, the font is almost always the same. Choose a title that's easy, recognizable, and that has an aesthetic that fits the content.
Most magazines put the title at the top of the cover to enhance the brand. For some interesting examples of how to match title to cover content, search for the covers of Harper's "Bazaar"
- Decide what to put on the cover. Fashion magazines often use cover models, while gossip magazines use photos taken by paparazzi or photomontages, and current affairs magazines often use portraits. Whichever image you choose, it should be eye-catching and interesting to your magazine articles.
- Write the titles of the articles on the cover (optional). Some magazines write only the title of the main article (like TIME or Newsweek), while others anticipate several articles on the cover (like Cosmopolitan or People). If you choose the second option, make sure you don't design a cover that's too confusing.
Method 3 of 3: Assemble Your Content
Step 1. Choose a definitive design for your magazine
The appearance of your magazine is as important as its content. Currency:
- The font: Have you chosen fonts that are easy to read and suited to your theme? Do they recall the font used for the title, or on the cover?
- The paper: will you print your magazine on coated or matte paper?
- Color: Some magazines, like People, were half color and half black and white to save ink. Many literary magazines are printed in black and white, although many famous titles have moved on to color pages. Evaluate your ink budget for each issue, and what is the best choice for the look and style of your magazine.
Step 2. Decide how to sort your content
How you organize your content within the magazine will determine how I will be browsed by readers. Here are some basic guidelines:
- The index is usually found on the first pages. If your magazine has many advertising pages, there may be many advertising pages before the index.
- After the index there will be a colophon. The colophon should contain the title, volume and issue of the magazine (both number 1 if it is your first magazine), the place of publication, and the staff who worked on the issue (the editors, writers and photographers).
- Sort the articles so that the main article is in the center, or in the second part of the magazine.
- Consider a satirical back cover. Many magazines, such as TIME or Vanity Fair, reserve the last page for fun, such as infographics, cartoons or a funny interview.
Step 3. Make your magazine layout
When you know where you're going to put the content, it's time to think about the layout. The implementation of the layout will depend on the software you decide to use, but there are some common elements to remember:
- Use a consistent format. Use the same frames, the same styles, the same numbering systems, and fonts throughout the magazine; don't create a magazine that looks like it was made by ten different people.
- Number the pages, especially if your magazine has an index.
- Make sure the final product has an even number of pages. If you are going to make an odd number of pages, you will need to add a blank one to be able to bind it.
- If you've decided to make the magazine by hand, now is the time to figure out how to get the content onto the page. Will you print it? Will you write it directly on the page? Will you paste the photos?
Step 4. Publish your magazine.
You can do it the traditional way by having it printed or you can post it online. Do your research to decide which option works best for your budget.
Bind your magazine (only if done by hand). When you have finished the pages, you can bind them to join them together
Advice
- To promote your magazine to a larger audience, try publishing it yourself.
- Give out a few copies of the magazine for free, for example to bookstores, to make your product known.
- Consider offering a subscription service. It will guarantee you a stable income to continue planning upcoming releases, and is a great way to connect directly with your passionate readers.
- Make sure you make stylistic choices that contrast with the spirit of the magazine. For example, a magazine on ecology should be printed on recycled paper.
- InDesign is a great program for publication design. It is easy to learn and very versatile. The Text-Edit program is a great complement. Refine the article on Text-Edit and then copy it in the appropriate space on the page.
- Quark is much harder to learn, but the pros who use it love it a lot.
Warnings
- Don't start big. It is better to test a small market in the beginning, to evaluate the success of the magazine, rather than printing too many copies and blowing up the entire budget. Try to increase your readership over time.
- Some people argue that magazines are a dead art form. Not so - many people still appreciate being able to read one. The key aspect is the topic - some topics are less interesting than others, so make sure you've done some market research before choosing it. In addition, some topics are more popular in digital format and others on paper.
- Most magazines derive a large portion of their income from advertisements. When you have decided what kind of audience to target, you MUST research companies that may be interested in advertising in your magazine. It is an activity that can take a long time. Check the number of advertising pages in a magazine versus pages with articles. This will give you an idea of the advertising percentage you will need to achieve for your magazine to be profitable.
- You will need a draft of the magazine when submitting an offer to potential advertisers. To know how much to charge for an advertisement, you will need to know the cost of making an exit. Choosing the right photos and style for your magazine is only part of the work required to make it a successful magazine.
