Designing online and print fashion magazines

Designing a graphic product is a big process, so before designing, we need to organise, research and plan to get as much as possible useful information so that we will be able to fulfil the needs and wishes of the target groups with the final product.

I divided my thesis is three segments: theoretical, research and practical part.

In the theoretical part, I read literature and gained knowledge about the history of the magazine. I researched about first womans magazine, who designed it, and which target audience has read it.

I wrote a theory about what a magazine is, what types of magazines we know, what work processes we need to know to design it or any graphic product. I researched the coloured models we need to know in designing and printing.

What types of printing we use to print, larger or smaller quantities of product and what formats do we need to use. I also described how to plan and design a digital magazine.

In my research part, I researched and compared magazines in foreign and domestic market. Researching helped me design a new fashion magazine Olivia. I researched what fashion magazines we know, how they are designed and what they have in common and also if they use a digital version.

I researched magazines prices and possible subscriptions. In my research, I was focused on the magazines which are very similar in design and content to my new magazine Olivia. Before I designed the magazine, I determined the target audience and created two online questionnaires.

They gave me useful feedback so that I was able to get as close as possible to the targeted group.

In the practical part, I designed the fashion magazine Olivia. The target group of the magazine are womans between 18 and 50 years. Magazine is published twice a month and has about 35 pages. The price of the magazine is 3.00€.

I started planning the magazine by creating an editorial plan based on the information I get from the online questionnaire. I started designing on a paper and then continued in a computer program Adobe InDesign.

My magazine has a minimalistic, elegant and tidy look. Olivia has articles about fashion events around the word and in Slovenia, some healthy recipes, travel and fashion tips and moodboards of fashion trends.