Magazine page layouts

March 20, 2005 9:59 AM

Can anybody recommend some magazines with good page design?

I'm looking to print for inspiration for web pages and such. Good, colorful layouts with minimal graphic embellishment are ideal.

Also helpful would be magazines that I can pick up at a good-sized news stand.

posted by Hildago to media & arts (19 comments total)

Depends on what you mean by 'good'.
I don't read Martha Stewart magazines, but I look at them at the supermarket and think, "How clever she is, to simplify life into soothing little pastel squares for people whose lives are too complicated." She's a design psychotherapist.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:06 AM on March 20, 2005

Adbusters

Harpers & Queen

British Glamour


Spoon

Elle South Africa
posted by matteo at 10:37 AM on March 20, 2005

I think you should try to find some archival issues of "Raygun". I don't think any commercially popular magazine of the modern era has tried to push the limits of design and layout like they did. They also like to really mess around with fonts too.
posted by spicynuts at 10:55 AM on March 20, 2005

Colors Magzine
posted by ColdChef at 11:00 AM on March 20, 2005

I second Colors, and add Wallpaper. I'd also say The National Geographic, but that's me ;-) Perhaps the Nat Geo is more impressive because of the way they explain such varying topics in the way they do (including through the design of a piece).

Wired. I don't like it generally, but it hits the right buttons sometimes.

Lastly, Business 2.0. Haven't read it lately, but a couple of years ago they were really good, lots of sweet infographics, etc.
posted by wackybrit at 11:14 AM on March 20, 2005

Oh, and since you're out for inspiration, consider The Design Cookbook. It's only about $10 and is packed full of layouts from cover to cover.
posted by wackybrit at 11:16 AM on March 20, 2005

If you can order in a few copies of Portland Monthly magazine, which is a local Portland, OR creation ... their page design is pretty exquisite. It's very reminiscent of cratsman/mission/Frank Lloyd Wright designs, if FLW designed magazines whose target market is pretty people with lots of money.
posted by SpecialK at 11:17 AM on March 20, 2005

Edge, the computer games magazine, has astounding production values and lovely design.
posted by bonaldi at 11:39 AM on March 20, 2005

Architectural Digest (print version) has clean elegant layouts.
posted by caddis at 12:13 PM on March 20, 2005

Edge's design has been awful as of late.
The Wire has good simple layouts and often great typography.
Dot Dot Dot is rather nice.
Archis uses layouts borrowed from other magazines, and is generally brilliant.
posted by none at 1:36 PM on March 20, 2005

I have always liked looking at the Magazine Wallpaper* for inspiration. It is found in the men's section at Barnes and Noble between the playboy's and Maxim's for some odd reason.
posted by chiababe at 2:14 PM on March 20, 2005

Cabinet
posted by glibhamdreck at 3:50 PM on March 20, 2005

I love the layouts in Filter, but I'm not sure if they have too much graphic embellishment for you.
posted by mayfly wake at 4:21 PM on March 20, 2005

Cabinet has its own website, which is just as good-looking as the magazine (although obviously you don't get their wonderful attention to detail and drop-ins, extras, etc.).
posted by jonathanbell at 4:32 PM on March 20, 2005

My favorites:
Dwell
Elle Decor
Savure (!!!)
Art in America
posted by Viomeda at 5:23 PM on March 20, 2005

The Believer
posted by scazza at 7:49 PM on March 20, 2005

And here is the link to Saveur.
posted by scazza at 7:56 PM on March 20, 2005

Dwell.
posted by bonehead at 6:10 AM on March 21, 2005

HOW
Communication Arts
Esopus
I.D.
Car
Alpinist
Texas Monthly

(Ditto on Colors, but if you want serious, life-changing design inspiration you should find anything by its first editor, Tibor Kalman.)
posted by skyboy at 6:26 PM on March 21, 2005