There's a little circular graphic that sticks out into one of the articles! For no reason!
March 8, 2008 6:32 AM Subscribe
What resources would help me redesign my club's magazine (laid out in Indesign)?
I'm the graphics editor for my campus humor magazine. Usually, this just means I make the pictures and put our name on the cover, but I have creative control over the look of the entire publication. I came in with Photoshop experience, and last semester I took a kind of survey course that covered Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign. In that class, I laid out a magazine spread, and doing so made me realize that our magazine could be much better designed.
The guy I replaced as graphics editor redesigned the magazine two years ago. I'm sure he improved it from what we had before, but the current version still has some serious problems. Some of these are just visually unappealing, and some of them make laying out the magazine difficult for our page layout people, who have never used Indesign in any other context.
I have a grasp of the major problems I want to fix, but I've never done anything like this outside of the classroom, and I could really use some resources, especially because I plan to start from scratch, instead of just fiddling with the current layout. Any books, websites, or other sources of information about creating magazine layouts would be helpful. (My old professor, unfortunately, isn't going to be much help.)
I'm the graphics editor for my campus humor magazine. Usually, this just means I make the pictures and put our name on the cover, but I have creative control over the look of the entire publication. I came in with Photoshop experience, and last semester I took a kind of survey course that covered Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign. In that class, I laid out a magazine spread, and doing so made me realize that our magazine could be much better designed.
The guy I replaced as graphics editor redesigned the magazine two years ago. I'm sure he improved it from what we had before, but the current version still has some serious problems. Some of these are just visually unappealing, and some of them make laying out the magazine difficult for our page layout people, who have never used Indesign in any other context.
I have a grasp of the major problems I want to fix, but I've never done anything like this outside of the classroom, and I could really use some resources, especially because I plan to start from scratch, instead of just fiddling with the current layout. Any books, websites, or other sources of information about creating magazine layouts would be helpful. (My old professor, unfortunately, isn't going to be much help.)
Your page layout people are designing the magazine, so you need to include them more. It's not like you can hand down a finished design and say "this, every month, please" -- or at least, you can't unless you don't mind the magazine looking exactly the same all the time.
What you want to do is create a framework -- paragraph and character styles, a baseline grid, a column grid -- and then let them design on top of it. You can't make this work without them. Is there any way you can get funding for some training all round?
posted by bonaldi at 7:35 AM on March 8, 2008
What you want to do is create a framework -- paragraph and character styles, a baseline grid, a column grid -- and then let them design on top of it. You can't make this work without them. Is there any way you can get funding for some training all round?
posted by bonaldi at 7:35 AM on March 8, 2008
Response by poster: Bonaldi- We've just had our funding cut by student government. I doubt we could get money for training.
Here's how it currently works: every page editor has one spread. Stuff like the pie chart, the point/counterpoint, etc, are on the same pages every time. Every new issue, the editor will just make a copy of last issue's spread, delete the old articles, and past the new ones in. Articles are assigned to different pages based on how much space they take up, so it IS pretty much the same every time. (Like, page 7 can accommodate two 600-word articles, or something like that- I'm not in charge of that aspect of production, though.)
In the past, I've had to tell people stuff like- if article one is too short and article two is too long, don't make article one's picture bigger and shorten article two. Just move article two up. Of course, people pick up on that stuff pretty fast, but that's how they all come in. They're all hired from the pool of people who come to our brainstorming meetings- meaning, they're knowledgeable about comedy, not graphics. We just hired a girl who knows Photoshop, and I was so relieved, because previously I was having to make EVERY picture by myself. So, I guess what I'm getting at is- I need to make this as easy as possible to deal with, for people who are not graphically-inclined.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:02 AM on March 8, 2008
Here's how it currently works: every page editor has one spread. Stuff like the pie chart, the point/counterpoint, etc, are on the same pages every time. Every new issue, the editor will just make a copy of last issue's spread, delete the old articles, and past the new ones in. Articles are assigned to different pages based on how much space they take up, so it IS pretty much the same every time. (Like, page 7 can accommodate two 600-word articles, or something like that- I'm not in charge of that aspect of production, though.)
In the past, I've had to tell people stuff like- if article one is too short and article two is too long, don't make article one's picture bigger and shorten article two. Just move article two up. Of course, people pick up on that stuff pretty fast, but that's how they all come in. They're all hired from the pool of people who come to our brainstorming meetings- meaning, they're knowledgeable about comedy, not graphics. We just hired a girl who knows Photoshop, and I was so relieved, because previously I was having to make EVERY picture by myself. So, I guess what I'm getting at is- I need to make this as easy as possible to deal with, for people who are not graphically-inclined.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:02 AM on March 8, 2008
Dynamic Graphics magazine holds a makeover contest every year for nonprofits. As a design novice, I've found it to be a great publication.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 9:31 AM on March 8, 2008
posted by Sweetie Darling at 9:31 AM on March 8, 2008
I agree with setting up master pages, character styles, and paragraph styles. And I actually find it easier to do this starting from the ground up, rather that just redesigning an existing layout (i.e. even if you're basing it on a new layout, start with a brand new master file), because it's easier to be organized and thorough.
My suggestion would be to create a variety of master pages for different scenarios that the other folks can pick and choose from based on what needs to be on the page. For example, one page that accommodates a few columns of text, an image and sidebar (you could even have two of these, one for a continuation of an article and one for the start of an article that would have the headline already built in); another page that has just text, or two sections of text for separate articles; one that has text and a pull-quote box or a sidebar...that sort of thing. And there can always be two versions of each, one for left-hand page, one for right hand. Don't be afraid of having too many master pages.
You can set up these masters so that each text box defaults to a particular paragraph style. That way your body text boxes will automatically be in the body text character style, headlines in headline style, pull-quotes in their style, etc.
It's been a couple of months since I did any layout like this but if I remember correctly, you will have to command+shift+click (unless you're on a PC, which is a different shortcut) on a given text box or picture frame to place anything in it.
As long as everything is set-up well to begin with, the other writers shouldn't have too many issues pulling in their text, images, etc.
As far as design goes, I recommend just reviewing some magazines you like the look of and adapting them to your needs/aesthetic. Colored sidebars or pull-quote text can add some visual interest as could some kind of repeating page element (warning: beware too much repetition or too much symmetry which could make things either busy or boring).
Hope this was helpful. Good luck!
posted by monkeygenius at 4:38 PM on March 8, 2008
My suggestion would be to create a variety of master pages for different scenarios that the other folks can pick and choose from based on what needs to be on the page. For example, one page that accommodates a few columns of text, an image and sidebar (you could even have two of these, one for a continuation of an article and one for the start of an article that would have the headline already built in); another page that has just text, or two sections of text for separate articles; one that has text and a pull-quote box or a sidebar...that sort of thing. And there can always be two versions of each, one for left-hand page, one for right hand. Don't be afraid of having too many master pages.
You can set up these masters so that each text box defaults to a particular paragraph style. That way your body text boxes will automatically be in the body text character style, headlines in headline style, pull-quotes in their style, etc.
It's been a couple of months since I did any layout like this but if I remember correctly, you will have to command+shift+click (unless you're on a PC, which is a different shortcut) on a given text box or picture frame to place anything in it.
As long as everything is set-up well to begin with, the other writers shouldn't have too many issues pulling in their text, images, etc.
As far as design goes, I recommend just reviewing some magazines you like the look of and adapting them to your needs/aesthetic. Colored sidebars or pull-quote text can add some visual interest as could some kind of repeating page element (warning: beware too much repetition or too much symmetry which could make things either busy or boring).
Hope this was helpful. Good luck!
posted by monkeygenius at 4:38 PM on March 8, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
Without seeing a sample of the previous magazine, I can't help you with specifics. But I can tell you that baseline grids, frame grids, keep rules, master pages, and paragraph and character styles are a must.
Making and Breaking the Grid is a great book. You should already own it. If not, go get it.
Go pick up some used issues of well-designed magazines. See how they are put together, how they're thematically and visually consistent and logically structured. And keep in mind that your first efforts might not be perfect. They will actually be pretty bad, I bet. But by the tenth time you start over, you will have a nice start.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 6:55 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite]