Who was Time’s Person of the Year? What company tops the Fortune 500? Who was People’s Sexiest Man Alive? Even if you never buy these magazines, you probably know the answers. When an annual feature story is so important it makes national news, you’ve moved into franchise content nirvana. Publishing’s most famous franchises have surprising histories and prove that sometimes serendipity is more clever than the savviest publisher.
Sure, your publication has a great nameplate, but it takes a lot more than good graphics to really brand your magazine. Build branding into the DNA of your magazine by impressing your readers with unique “franchise” material, organizing content into templated sections and thematic features, and presenting it in a distinctive voice that separates your book from the competition.
What makes an illustration pop off the page—or fall flat? Engage your readers or leave them wanting? This [FPO] short course on illustration helps you get the most from illustrations you commission and stock art you buy. Whatever your budget.
Getting the right illustration begins with reading the article and ends with the fine print. Follow these 1-2-3’s to commissioning—and receiving—art that inspires, not just repeats, your story.
Do your feature openings all seem to follow the same format, lack excitement or send a message of “boring?” We delved into our archives to find some cures to tired layouts. We hope you’ll find inspiration on these pages. And we’ll be flattered if you copy the techniques.
An assortment of news items, reviews, quizzes and other fun stuff, including a review of the new Quark 8, an homage to the retired Premiere magazine, and our Magazine Beastiary.
It’s Our Position Only, but we think branding is the joint work of Art and Ed.
We asked, and you told us: what we’re doing right, not so right and downright missing the mark on. Content, thumbs up. Deadlines, thumbs down.
Obama has a big “O” (no, not just Oprah) and it may have won him the Democratic nomination.
A good tagline can help brand your pub and set it apart from the crowd on the newsstand.
This partner at Pentagram names names (mentors), shares “aha!” moments and talks about his approach to publication design—as Design Director for New York Magazine, and Creative Director for Brill’s Content, I.D. Magazine and more.
You’re an editor with great freelancers in your stable, but how do you keep them happy when other writers are jumping ship for a few cents a word and the promise of more work? Reward them—without breaking your budget.
Cook’s Illustrated has a master recipe for growing a media empire, and it has simple ingredients: three synergistic brands that each stand on their own.
Why make your readers ramble around a layout on their way to the next spread? Make sure you show them where to go.
Uneven “gray color,” rivers of white and an uneven rag make your body copy look bad, and your magazine seem amateurish. Take your typesetting to the next level.
Making your publication “greener” means reevaluating every stage of production. Think paper, ink, proofing and delivery.
Monitor calibration is at the heart of color correction. It may be geeky, but here’s how to get WYSIWYG color.
You’ve strategized content mix, outlined a year’s worth of issue themes and article ideas, and put together your editorial calendar. So, who’s going to write all that stuff? Try these tips and online resources for finding writers for your publication.
Jan V. White serves up “messy” layout strategies to pull in the page-flippers.
These sites prove you can get something for nothing. And the choices are amazingly good.
Steven Brower tackles all that barking on the newsstand and comes up with two winning covers, neither of which will bite you.
Stuck in its heady past, this patient gets a dose of reality and a restorative prescription. Yes, the centerfold stays.
Consider the UIC, the UIP and the UIT. Hint: They all start with “unique.”
It’s time to revisit one of the first Postscript fonts—Palatino—redrawn by the original designer for the twenty-first century.
What do the Gold Rush, Egyptian mummies, magnetic card readers and Space 1999 all have in common?