Magazine Design and the Modern Man

Jeremy Leslie is director of magCulture, member of the D&AD Executive Committee and a passionate advocate of editorial design.  Busy, then!  He's agreed to share a few insights into his latest project, the redesign of men's magazine, FHM, which relaunched in the UK this month.

1. Can you describe the process of editorial design - are there unique challenges to the discipline? 

The basics of editorial design will be familiar to any graphic designer. Typography, grids, use of imagery and spatial composition all figure. But there are also a number of less familiar specialist skills involved.

First of all, you are one of a team of people with specialist creative skills. As designer you are responsible for every visual aspect of the magazine, but alongside you the editor has an identical level of responsibility for the choice of story and tone of writing. Then there’s the picture editor who will share with you responsibility for photography. You have to work as a team, taking on board each other’s views. I believe the roles of editor and designer are merging – the best magazines employ people who comprehend both content and its presentation.

A critical issue often overlooked by designers without editorial experience is that a magazine isn’t a series of single pieces but needs to hold together as a whole. The balance of text and image and any page can vary enormously.  The running order and variation from page to page needs not only be carefully considered but also open to change as the issue comes together. During production the whole magazine is in a permanent state of flux, and only when the final page is completed does that flux end and the flat plan become secure.

Harder still is the way that creating pace through the pages means sometimes a story will be designed and illustrated in a particular way to appear different to what precedes and follows that story, rather than designed purely in the best way for that individual story.

2. How do you start tackling a project for a well-established brand like FHM?

The first things to do were to get to know the magazine, talk to the editor, pull some tear sheets together from other magazines, then agree the right direction – agree a brief.

FHM is a long-standing brand that has lost its way in recent years. This made it a relatively simple brief. In its heyday it was one of the most influential men’s magazines, but it had lost sight of its audience. There was a strong magazine trying to fight its way through the wrong design – it was confusing to the reader, the content and look didn’t match. The FHM reader wants simple things presented without being over-designed. The design had to be invisible, which is harder to achieve than it sounds. Design-wise it had to look strong but unremarkable.

 

The various regular sections needed clearer, separate, identities. The whole thing needed a more masculine tone, meaning new fonts and a return to red and black as central colours. In most respects it was exciting working with such a longstanding and successful newsstand brand, but in one specific way it was disappointing. I’ve always felt the FHM logo was weak, so I proposed a revision to that but the publishers didn’t feel confident changing such a key asset.

3. The FHM redesign launched the same week as Apple's new iPad was unveiled.  Where do you think the future of the lad's mag and mainstream mag publishing generally lies?

If I had a simple answer to that I’d be a very rich man.

Magazine publishing is experiencing a collective depression at the moment caused by several factors, one of which is the presence of online competition. But the Internet is not the only reason for this depression. It’s easy to forget the massive boom the magazines industry has experienced over recent decades. Like other sectors, magazine publishing couldn’t continue to grow at the rate it was going. It’s been too easy to see a successful magazine, rip it off, and watch the money pour in from advertisers. A downturn was inevitable, and here it is: US publishers have just experienced a 9% drop in newsstand sales. Shocking from a business perspective but from a creative standpoint there have been too many similar magazines chasing the same reader. It’s time for a shake out, and the fact it’s happening is cause for long term optimism; a return to quality over quantity.

I’d separate reactions to the iPad in similar fashion. From a business perspective it’s the Holy Grail, a new way to publish content without the cost of paper, print and physical distribution. Whether or not the big publishers can build a successful business model with it remains to be seen – Apple will be taking a cut.

But from a creative point of view, the prospect of the iPad is very exciting. There have been plenty of attempts at merging magazine and digital content and presentation with little success. At last, perhaps, the iPad will make this possible. There’s a generation out there for whom the iPod Touch allows seamless access to digital content, be it music, games, news or utilities. The combination of image and text we are used to experiencing in magazines is ideally suited to this environment.

I rely on the Internet hour to hour, but as well as the open interaction it allows me I’d also like a more immersive, mediated digital content experience that is less open-ended than a website and provides the ongoing relationship I experience with magazines.

The future will be a mix of both. Printed magazines will continue to exist alongside digital magazines of some sort, whether its the iPad that proves the catalyst or not.

Comments

[Yank]

Wow… people actually still read that rag? Wow!

[Paul]

What an interesting, well-considered article

[Anonymous]

It looks like it did 10 years ago... although that might not be a bad thing.

The visuals are quite customer mag-like, would'nt it have been better to have a pic of Tiger Woods ogling a blonde rather than the golf ball-lips pic? It would get the story across better.

I'd swap out the Champion Gothic typeface for something more modern Antenna from Font Bureau would do it.

[Ikem]

Great read, fantastic article

[ipad]

I stumbled onto your blog and read a few placement.

[d]

nice d

[generic viagra]

Your article is very good. Descriptions and details complement the article. Your views are directly and go right to the point. Excellent work.

[generic viagra]

What an interesting, well-considered article. I like it great work.

[computers cheap]

I think with this kind magazine this will surely attract so many people not only readers but other people as well. This design looks very creative and attractive too.

[global news]

In most respects it was exciting working with such a longstanding and successful newsstand brand, but in one specific way it was disappointing.

[viagra online]

Thank you for this wealth of information and beautiful photos.
Are the ribbon covered containers done by wiring the ribbon in loops?
Previous research on job incentives has found that when they are unexpected, they have a greater impact on productivity.

[Anthony Nelson]

Nice article....should have been more elaborate!!!! The editorial process can be started right from the perspective of what data to be collected!!! next the right resources need to be assigned to the tasks.

[buy viagra generic]

I like your information about the wealth and health related.The pics which that posted was awesome.

[wang replica]

I really enjoyed this article.
I am always trying to foster good relationships with people who can help my cause.

[Tadalis]

Great piece of article. It explains so much about the topic. I should say it is a detailed article. Talks about a variety of things - something which I never thought could exist. What I found different in your article is the way you have gone about to explain the topic in a simplistic way.

[generic viagara]

I would like to appreciate the great work done by You, its a nice blog to comment on. I love the information in this blog, I wonder if there are updates to this post, thanks.

[Nike Jordan]

A certain amount of care or pain or trouble is necessary for every man at all times.
A ship without a ballast is unstable and will not go straight. Do you think so?

[Chanel Bags Outlet]

Treaty without convening a full-blown Convention and simply convene a conference of the representatives of the member States.

[vigilon]

I appreciate your time in creating such wonderful blog.

[What is a Medical Assistant]

Very nice post. I appreciate the informative details on modern man and their needs/wants.

[top scholarships]

Excellent information. Modern man is really into design. This will come in handy.

[Scholarships for High School seniors]

Wow what a striking woman. The combination of a woman's lips and the nike emblem is something that would definetely get man's attention.

[monetary consulting]

Nice logo. Love the lips style!

[automobile insurance companies]

I agree that whatever you are publishing, a magazine, website or a blog you need to insure the consistancy. Then people would keep coming back for the same stuff. But if you are extremenly talented you are setting yourself to surprising your visitors everytime.

[plantronics wireless headset]

What a piece of good info, I Will print this and save it.