Magazine Design and Production Assignment
For this group assignment, you will come up with your own magazine topic and title; research and write an argumentative article, an informative article, and few advertisements; create or identify photographs and other graphics; and create a cover, and table of contents. As a group, you will also present your magazine to the class. Throughout the project, you share responsibilities and assume a variety of work roles, such as staff writer, copyeditor, researcher, and members of the advertising, public relations, and human resources teams.
You must use InDesign for this assignment for ALL layout and type although the label and other graphical elements may be created in some other design tools such as Canva and Photoshop. For design ideas, you can visit Behance or dribble.
Your required pages (10 pages) must have a minimum of 500 words as paragraph text so these pages will be text “heavy” although they should include photographs, graphics, and/or illustrations for visual interest. You must complete your own photographs, graphics, and/or illustrations. You must also collect sources and data through interviews, field visits or library research to gather information for the argumentative and informative articles you will write for your magazine. The additional pages may be primarily photographic with a small amount of type.
A Note on Typography:
- You may not use a highly stylized or decorative font for this assignment.
- You may not use pure center alignment for your text.
- Think of your typography as part of your design and not as an element added after you have completed your illustration or photograph.
Required Elements
- Title of magazine
- Month and year of magazine
- Page numbers
- Article headline
- Article subhead
- Author of article
- Credits as needed
- Pull quote
- A minimum of 500 words as paragraph text
- Photographs of related items
- Argumentative article and informative article (one each per student)
- Commercial ads (2 original and a few reproduced) with texts and slogans accompanying advertising visuals.
- Special features: op-ed pieces, news articles
- Thorough Copyediting
- Artworks (photos, graphics, illustrations etc.) and captions
- Page size: 8” (w) x 11” (h) with a 0.5 margin
- Magazine cover design with its visual identity in mind. Your cover must include this info: a title, a cover photo/background, several story-line titles (which of the stories do you want to highlight on the cover), issue date, and issue price
Specifications: Required software techniques
- Master Pages with page numbers, magazine name and month
- Paragraph Styles
- Columns or guidelines per page
- Bleed
- Named layers
- Placed text and linked text boxes
- Hanging punctuation: Story > Optical Margin Alignment
- All blank pages removed
- Page size: 8” (w) x 11” (h) with a 0.5 margin and 0.125 bleed.
- Color: CMYK
- Resolution: 300 dpi
Personal Research
Each student is expected to complete personal research for the assignment. These are LinkedIn Learning recommended tutorials (accessible to all CSUN students).
- Designing a Magazine Layout by Nigel French
- Magazine Design Start to Finish: The Cover by John McWade
- InDesign CC 2020 Essential Training by David Blatner
You will deliver a 10-minute group presentation of your magazine project to the class assuming that your audience is a group of store owners who would be carrying and selling your magazine. You will assume the role of a circulation manager and map out a marketing plan for distributing your new magazine.
Once all done, you will host or publish you magazine on Flipsnack or Magcast (premium service) and host it in iTunes and Android.
