In conjunction with editorial, a magazine needs production processes and staff. Again, if your magazine is very small you may be able to do all the production work yourself, but if it is more substantial you will need assistance. Production staff are involved in the process of the magazine being produced and, although under editorial direction, production people are the experts in how to create the finished product.Production includes design and print and, if your magazine is printed, you can choose whether to have a separate designer and printer or whether to get a printer to do the design for you as well.
There can be benefits either way. With separate people you can make sure you select the best you can find in both fields; with a combined team you can hope to gain more collaboration and consistency in the production job.There are various ways of finding people to produce your magazine. You can ask people you know, as they may well have good contacts in this field. You can look at directories and websites dealing with print and design.
You can look at other magazines you think are well produced and then contact their production teams to see whether they use external contractors themselves or contract out their own services to others. You can also go to the relevant professional associations or trade bodies to source suppliers – and you can find details of these in trade publications or local libraries and information bureaux.We will now consider some of the tasks involved on the production side.
Design
The overall design and layout of a magazine is intrinsically bound up with its purpose and style. As well as text, magazines contain a wide range of graphic elements, including photographs, drawings, diagrams and other illustrations, together with typefaces/sizes and the use of ‘white space’.
The design function involves creating the physical appearance of the magazine, and it is part of the design function to ensure that all the elements mentioned above enhance and support the text so that the magazine overall is a coherent and attractive product.
The term used for the creation of design elements is origination and some aspects of design are as follows:
- ensuring design elements contribute to the overall purpose of the magazine
- aligning text and illustrative material
- ensuring that design elements contribute to readability and comprehension
- selecting paper type and size
If the magazine is part of a range of documents, it is likely to be important that they all have the same style. ‘Corporate identity’ is the term used in business for consistency of appearance and image.
Printing
Printing involves producing multiple copies of the original text and illustrations. At the most basic level this may simply mean photocopying, or printing copies on a computer printer. Normally, however, printing is done by specialist services.
It is possible to get printing done at ‘print shops’, which are usually high street services that undertake a limited range of print jobs rapidly and at low cost. For anything other than the most basic magazine, however, it is best to go to a specialist printer, who can also advise on design and on paper selection if you do not have the services of a designer of your own. If you have a magazine with a large circulation, it may be most economical for you to print overseas as this can result in very substantial cost savings.
Some aspects of printing to consider are the following:
- How many copies you need. This will determine the process you use (remember that, with commercial printers, very small print runs tend to cost more, proportionately, than longer runs, but also consider where you will store additional copies if you have many more produced than you need immediately).
- Whether you need single, ‘spot’ or full colour printing. Some printers are more economical for one or other of these.
- What quality you need. Again, some processes will provide better results than others.
- Where you can get the best value for money.