Design Strategy for Your Magazine

Not to be Ignored

In today’s tumultuous times it is more important than ever to take a strategic approach to your publishing efforts. Whether you are launching a new magazine or Web site, or rethinking an already established one, a strategic thought process should rule all creative development. I like to think of this strategic approach in two parts: audience-driven content and content-driven design.

To follow this line of thinking, you would first study your audience. Who is the reader? What do they want and need from your magazine and Web site? How will you deliver to meet those needs? Almost everything you do should start with answering these questions to work towards solidifying your content strategy. It is important to include the creative team when analyzing the magazine’s content and its goals.

Keep in mind that content refers not only to text, but graphics, audio, and video, too. You can read more on content strategy from Lou Ann Sabatier in her articles for Align.

An appropriate content strategy creates a distinct lens through which the reader will view your publication. Carefully planning your editorial and visual elements to frame this lens is very important. It means establishing and adhering to guidelines to ensure quality, on-target content for every issue. If an item does not fit the strategy or the established structure, it does not go in the magazine or on the Web site.

For example, cramming a long article into a small space for no reason other than lack of control or laziness often results in sacrificing visuals, ultimately undermining the impact of the piece. Allowing deviation from your core strategy can quickly become common practice, and before you know it, the structure and flow of your publication could fall apart. Remember that more is not always better — striking a balance between text and image is one of the simplest ways to draw the reader in.

Once you’ve done the work to ensure that your content satisfies the needs of your audience, apply the same rationale of interconnectivity to take a targeted approach to your design strategy. Let the direction of the planned content drive the structure and design of the publication.

The process for developing your design strategy can be broken into four phases:

1. Analyze
2. Define
3. Design
4. Implement

These four process phases work together, and each step should drive the next. Over the next several weeks I will go into detail on each phase. We will start by discussing the first step, the Analyze phase.

Gain a clear overall picture of your publishing initiatives through focused analysis of where you are now and where you would like to be. Review surveys and research to see what information can be shared with the designer about what is working and what is not. Be sure to share this analysis with the creative team. Can you learn anything from your competitors? Is there anything you can do to further differentiate your product from theirs? If there is no competition in the space, why is that?

Next, review your internal processes and workflow. Make sure the design team understands the editorial goals and strategy and is involved early in the process to have creative input.

The design and editorial teams need to work in unison to create an engaging publication that fulfills the readers’ needs. Simply handing off content to the designer with no background or collaboration is not part of a strategic process.

Finally, if it’s an established publication, analyze the existing design and structure. Is it organized and easy to navigate? Is it engaging to the reader? Do the design elements, like typography and artwork, further the message of the story or work against it? Is it cost-efficient to produce? Are the designers using tools like style sheets and master pages to streamline production?

Once the analysis is complete, you will be ready to move into the Define phase, where you will hone your strategy by developing a clear mission and plan for success. Because this step includes identifying what you are, as well as what you are not, defining can be the most difficult step in creating the strategy.

Check back for articles highlighting each of the remaining phases: Define, Design and Implement.