Magazine design & Production

Design

We have been and always will be magazine designers. It is what we love to do—engage in a thorough reworking of a title, and then continue our work by producing every issue.

Sure the business has changed in the last decade, but the fundamentals remain—build a template for presenting stimulating content that lasts and lasts, encouraging readers to come back for more. Use design to curate content and promote engaged readership.

We know how to design publications that improve the creativity of your entire staff because we have contracted with over thirty publishers to produce their magazines—many after working through our redesign process. That is why our average redesign lasts eight years and 11 of our last 15 designs are still in use. There’s a good reason for that. We have a process for building better magazines. Here’s how we do it.

Magazine Design in FIVE Steps

1.PRÉCIS

We begin by exploring the goals a new design should achieve. We clarify your publication’s mission and envision editorial structure that aligns with that, adjusting current content and suggesting new editorial concepts. We partner with you to plan a better book in three critical areas: structure, branding and budget. Together, we build the précis, (pray-see) a text document that serves as an outline for the redesign. It defines expectations and provides parameters for success. Getting a clear idea of what everyone expects early in the process ensures less wheel-spinning and more focus on finding the best solutions.

See a Précis with Client Comments

2.ISSUE MAP & MATRIX

An issue map is a schematic rendering of the paginations for a typical issue. It shows content structure, editorial/ad ratio and positioning of branded content and conforms to printer specifications. A matrix then lists the editorial parts of the book as a spreadsheet for applying live content for each issue in a volume. This planning aid is a valuable tool for efficient workflows and to prove that a department concept or feature package has enough depth to work throughout an edition.

SEE a Sample Issue Map & Matrix

3.DESIGN

Typography, images, color and ornament are a critical part of your magazine’s identity. Good page design uses repetition and parallel structure to build a visual language that helps readers comprehend the scope of the content. But just as important is building editorial branding—the “voice” of the publication. Heads, decks, pull quotes—even typographic motifs like bullets, inline heads and endbugs—when used with deliberate consistency make your publication memorable. This is an important and often overlooked element of the design package.

See Cover Comps Presentation

4.PROTOTYPE & TEMPLATE

The fulfilment of the design is the creation of a prototype issue. All the elements of the design and branding and all of the structure and voice are part of this almost-finished magazine. The prototype becomes a template when an InDesign document is created to use for actual production. We create Master Pages as needed, fine-tune type tracking and kerning, organize type and object style sheets, the color palette and a library of standing art. Everything is packaged into a document optimized for reliable quality and efficiency for in-house designers.

Download a Template

5.STYLE GUIDE

The template may show what the magazine should look like, but that is only the beginning. Using a well-designed template requires some training. The style guide provides detailed instructions for using the template, with aesthetic and editorial guidelines included for getting the best results. In some ways, it is both a tutorial for using InDesign and a reminder to keep true to all of the editorial goals contained in the précis.

SEE a Sample Style Guide

SEE FOR YOURSELF

No amount of copy can prove the value of our collaborative process better than taking a close look at before-and-after examples. Our designs work because they are editorial-oriented and make producing every issue more creative and efficient. That is why many of our designs have had an amazing ability to stay “live” for years.

Click on the image to download these excellent examples of the AURAS editorial philosophy at work:

SCOUTING MAGAZINE You’ll see from the TOC how this redesign completely overhauled the structure of the publication for a richer, better-branded, more accessible publication. Even a major editorial revamp in 2020 left this redesign intact.

PHARMACY TODAY This project was abandoned when the association sold the publication rights to a custom publisher. Because it is a prototype it has the same content in both versions, a unique opportunity to show how new structure, better editorial branding and design are the keys to a better magazine.

A Closer Look at How AURAS Designs Publications

Production

We love print. After thirty publications and more than 150,000 pages of editorial we still produce 200 pages each month and can do many more.

4 reasons why you should CONTRACT AURAS FOR ONGOING DESIGN

A Better Magazine with a Better Bottom Line

Decades of expert production generates efficiency, quality and greater creativity. AURAS can produce higher-quality, award-winning publications by developing unparalleled trust and rapport with your staff. Add the cost of your current staff benefits, workspace, equipment—plus all the HR headaches of hiring and firing—and it’s easy to see why we can guarantee it costs less to outsource to AURAS.

A Dedicated Designer Plus a Support Staff

You will have your very own designer producing your publication, backed by the rest of the AURAS team. AURAS can completely replace your in-house design and production staffers. Plus, we have a tremendous on-time delivery history—no matter what the reason, we’ll get it out the door without the drama and with no extra charges.

Custom Workflows and Higher Quality

We work the way you want to work. We can offload many production or editorial headaches to make your life easier. We have the expertise and equipment to achieve the highest-quality files to send to printers. Our artistic, technical and project management skills are beyond any that your in-house personnel might achieve.

Design Studio Depth

As a full-service design studio that pioneered digital design, we can help your organization with projects beyond your publication. Special reports, conference promotion, branding and new program development are all familiar projects at AURAS.

Find Out How Easy It Is to Get AURAS Working for You

Even if you just want some perspective on your budget, take a few minutes and fill out our simple form—and you’ll get a reply in a day.

Attach a PDF of your latest issue and we’ll get back to you with a single-page rate that includes nearly every aspect of design and production.