Content - Fall 2007 - (Page 22) Content communicate. It’s a different way of approaching packaging and design, a different kind of balancing act.” In practice, that balancing act is, in itself, an art form. “Audiences are so sophisticated these days, I try to visually tone down the institutional message so the readers don’t feel that they’re being manipulated or sold a bill of goods. Today’s readers will instantly tune you out if they feel that they’re getting the hard sell,” explains Charlie Hess, the veteran designer whose credits include the Los Angeles city magazine Buzz as well as custom publications such as Bel-Air and Golf. “The key is to make the magazine as entertaining and lively as possible—as much like a good consumer magazine as you can within the constraints of the budget.” Good advice, but what’s beneath the big picture? What are the nuts and bolts of making design work in custom publishing? Experts agree there are a handful of universal rules that, if executed well, produce successful magazines that meet objectives, satisfy clients, engage readers and look great. Good, and not so Good, desiGn The impact of design on a magazine’s success cannot be overrated. There are, however, some generally accepted guidelines on elements and ideas that should be considered (or not). We asked the experts to tell us what works and what doesn’t. Cover lines are also critical, even though these magazines are not competing on the newsstand, because the cover is what compels someone to read the magazine. A universal complaint among custom publishing designers and editors is cover display copy—the headlines and story decks on a magazine cover—that is too small or unnecessarily artsy or complex. (And readers are quick to complain about too-small type, which usually means body copy that’s less than nine points, and even that may be too small for a cover.) Another bad idea is to have your headlines and cover lines blend in with the picture. Make sure that your cover design includes a strong banner and four to seven good cover lines. less is more Your visual approach has to be easy to understand and get the reader quickly through the magazine. Clutter will turn readers off faster than almost anything else. Experts say this begins with a table of contents that is neither cluttered with type nor filled with design tricks that interfere start From the BeGinninG with the readers’ ability to smoothly find what they want. The 3 Favor being Before the actual production of a magazine begins, it’s same maxim is true for every page in a publication. clear over appearing clever. important to have a blueprint for what your design will or “Navigation sets the whole tone” of a magazine, says 3 Employ lots will not emphasize. Are your primary colors bold or subtle? Hearst’s Seibert. “Use interesting design, but not so different of white space. Is your type conservative or will it have flair? The answers that the reader has to work too hard. I’ve seen some custom 3 Offer bitedepend on what the client establishes as its brand parameters sized information publications where the design is creative and beautiful but formats. and the editorial focus of the magazine. too far outside what magazine readers are used to …. Re3 Create good At Wiesner, “we put quite a bit of creative intellect in the member, your reader did not choose to get this publication. cover lines. initial packaging that we present to our clients,” says Vice Design must include strong navigation on every page, in the 3 Be creative, original, and President and Group Publisher Maureen Regan. “There are front, back and the middle of the book.” very specific components to the packaging we present. The ini- more original. To maintain easy navigation, stories in the award-winning 3 Use color tial package always includes the font, the typography, the color selectively Lexus magazine, produced by Story Worldwide, never jump but well. palette, cover design, table of contents, a feature design and a feature stories to the back of the book. David Betz, creative department design. And we typically offer two variations of that 3 Construct director for Story, adds that pull-out inserts, inserting smells, strong navigation. package. From there, we tweak and the design evolves.” really heavy stock ads that make the magazine keep falling Regan also counsels that every magazine should be guided open to that page and, of course, a hard-to-find table of conby a creative brief that not only describes the editorial voice of tents also are roadblocks to reader acceptance. 7 Damage covers the publication but also lays out its design sensibility. In many with too-small cases, she will have two different designers work on a package headlines and cover lines. to ensure that fresh ideas emerge from different sources. draw and shoot 7 Clutter. Not surprisingly, covers are critical. “A custom magazine A major element of a magazine’s design—perhaps the most 7 Think that does not necessarily have to compete with hundreds of important visual “signature” of any publication—is how or if it one-size fits all; it doesn’t. other magazines on a newsstand or magazine rack,” says mixes photography and illustration. Here there is no universal 7 Scrimp on Arjun Basu, editorial director of Spafax and editor-in-chief rule; the proportion of photos to drawings depends on the indidesign. of EnRoute magazine. “As such, there are certain liberties a vidual editorial focus and corporate objectives of each magazine. 7 Try to fool custom magazine can take with covers that consumer maga- the reader. No magazine is exclusively one or the other. Wiesner’s zines can’t. Having said that, a cover in any kind of magazine 7 Masquerade Regan says, “in 99 percent of our custom publications, we as direct mail. still has the same function: to sell the interior in an attractive 7 Make the reader combine both illustration and photography in every issue. and meaningful way.” The key is to make sure that both are original.” work too hard. do dont The Magazine of the Custom Publishing Council PREMIERE ISSUE 22
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