Whether you’re new to the magazine publishing business or not, finding a solid, reliable company to outsource your design with is one of the most important tasks in setting up your team. For publishers with dreams of seeing their publication take off and thrive, their design firm can be a pivotal partner in the success of the venture for years to come.
Just a quick note to let you know we’ve posted a magazine design case study over on the main Picante website for Energy of the City Magazine, a sophisticated, high-end lifestyle magazine we designed for Washington Gas, the premier natural gas utility in the Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia area.
For magazine publishers looking to maximize their profitability, minimizing printing costs (without a significant drop in quality or reliability) is essential. At Picante, we’ve been dealing with printers for many, many years now, from small corner print shops to behemoth mega-printers and everything in between — so we wanted to share a few tips to help you avoid some common pitfalls while choosing a printer and getting your magazine ready for primetime.
Quick — what’s the first thing you notice about a new magazine on the rack? The nameplate? The cover shot? Perhaps. But I’d argue that the first thing you notice, whether you’re consciously aware of it or not, is the design.
While I’ll concede that 21st-century technology obviously plays an invaluable and dominant role in modern culture, magazines are the one little bit of turf I’m not willing to give up, the one medium I’m not surrendering to the clutches of the web.
In the weeks, months and years ahead, we hope to provide magazine publishers with a wealth of useful information on magazine design and marketing strategies.
