I just got promoted to art director of the magazine I work for. I don’t want to stick to the same look we’ve had for years, I want to update a little bit (or maybe a lot). What are some magazines out there that are really well-designed? The subject or content doesn’t matter, I just want to see some stylish and modern design. What say you?
It depends on the context of the one you’re working on. Might not be a bad idea to take a gander at Stuff Magazine – strictly for layout and design, it’s not badly set up.
I wish I could recommend others, but the ones I consistently read (Maxim, Stuff, EW, Us, Psychology Today, Details, Wizard, etc.) have basically been the same for quite some time now. Nothing earthshaking.
FWIW, I used to work in L&D for a newspaper.
Entertainment Weekly revamped their look six months or so ago – I like the new version.
Two gorgeous glossies – Metropolitan Home and Garden Design.
Is your magazine more text driven or visuals driven? If it’s text driven, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head – it’s all about fonts, isn’t it?
-twicks (in the puzzle-magazine biz, which has its own rather specfic layout needs)
What sort of magazine are you working for and what is your target audience? Do you think they’d prefer slicked-over, technical-looking mags, or do they like the more conservative look (i.e., Cigar Afficionado or something similar)? It sounds like you’d like to give your magazine a fresher look. Off the top of my head, I’d agree with twickster on Metropolitan Home and Garden Design. Just do a little research on the demographics of your readership. And one thing you might consider - keep it simple. This is true for many Web sites, but it also applies to magazines. Many magazines re-vamp their look, and all of a sudden, they have a ton of junk on the cover that looks slicked and fresh, but the actual stories harder to find because information on where to find them is obscured by these snazzy new graphics. So, yeah, the magazine looks cool, but readers can’t find the information they’re interested in, so they go somewhere else where they can. Just an observation…
The two best-designed mags I can think of on short notice, both British:
Car (auotmobiles, natch)
Frieze (art mag)
Try Aperture or Architectural Digest.
The two that come immediately to mind are Fast Company and Atlantic Monthly. I would also recommend going to a news seller and buying a couple of magazines that happen to grab your attention.
I like Scientific American: clean but not sterile, professional-looking but friendly, and always great illustrations.
I think it would depend on what the nature of the publication is.
Though I am the most craft and domestic impaired person in this hemisphere, I adore the layout and design for Martha Stewart Living* and ** Kids** and Cooking. The photography literally has revolutionized how to declutter a picture and focus on just one peice of subject matter.Many mags have changed over to this type, I’ve noticed. None that I can actually think of at the moment.
I like that alot. I just wish they’d publish the letters to the editor. Except all she would publish, I’m sure, is " I love you Martha you are the best for helping me make a wedding dress out of kleenex, pinking shears and rare Fongistonian Lace from the highest Peruvian mountian." I would love to see letters from misfits like me who write back, " The directions were fine, it was finding all the farking supplies that drove me mad. In the end, I just bought the damn thing - complete- from Target." Sorry for the rant, but it needed to be said.
Other layouts I like: ** Ready Made Magazine ** ( fresh, urbane hip-retro-undergroundish feel to it without being grungie. (Budget Living is the same way too, same publ.)
An example of what I hate is the Vanity Fair and similar that have about 10,000 ads before you get to the index. Og, that drives me batty. ** Oprah’s **magazine is nicely put together and always has the index up front. ( Her magazine is exceptional as well, except she caters to the rich-gal ads…)
Since you now hold supreme power in your hands, do you have the balls ( or tits, be it as it may.) enough to stamp out those stinking perfume ad thingies and those massively annoying subscribtion post cards? How many trees must die to annoy the living hell out of us?
Congrats on your promotion! (Can you give us a hint on who you work for?)
Popular Science is pretty good looking.
Easyriders was great during it’s ‘golden’ period: 197x-198x. I don’t know what happened, but it’s nowhere as good now.
Whatever you do, don’t take cologne or perfume ads that include samples. I get several magazines that literally, if not figuratively, stink!
Thanks for all the responses. Of course, the obvious answer is, “Go to the bookstore and look!” But have you seen how many magazines there are out there these days? That’s why I was looking for a few hints to start with. 
I work for JAZZIZ Magazine. The previous art director had a very clean, if somewhat sterile style. I’m looking to give it a little more individuality, but without getting cluttered or unreadable. I’ve seen enough mags that look like that. Our demographic is the somewhat more affluent jazz fan (read: smooth), so I can’t get all funky with it. I actually have a subscription to Readymade, but I probably can’t be that ‘hip’ in my designs for JAZZIZ, but I’ll go back and look at it again with an eye for ideas I can steal.
We don’t have any stinky perfume ads, but even if we did, that’s a money decision, not design, and so not up to me. Same with the 50 pages of ads before the table of contents in Vanity Fair. It’s all about the money. I guess Oprah has enough money that she doesn’t have to sell those pricey, up-front ads. Our mag is pretty small, so we don’t have a lot of ads, but still, it’s not up to me. Sorry.
<i>Texas Monthly</i> is very nice, although it might be hard to find in Florida.
I would suggest the magazine Real Simple. I have been very impressed with their use of color (while still maintaining readablity) and general layout. Design is not something I consciously notice, but I did with this magazine, so they must be doing something right!
My nephew is a jazz musician, I’ll check out Jazziz as a birthday present. good luck!
I couldn’t agree more strongly on Shirley Ujest’s comment on Oprah’s magazine having the index right up front. As I understand it, the “older and wiser” heads strongly advised against it and she had to really be insistent that the index would go where it does. I not only love this feature about her magazine, but it also makes me much more favorably inclined to the rest of the magazine as well. I don’t know if someone without Oprah’s clout can pull it off, but if you can I think it would go a long way toward boosting your magazine’s goodwill and sales.
That’s a pretty fun magazine. And congratulations on your promotion!