Graphic design magazines are always a good source of graphic design inspiration and knowledge from industry professionals. Especially nowadays, when publishers provide fantastic information in various formats for your convenience.
Even though digital publications and design magazines are beneficial for various reasons, there is something special about a printed magazine. The simple pleasure of holding the latest edition of your favorite glossy graphic design magazine filled with visual inspiration and value-rich content is still unbeatable in an era where the "digital" has surpassed the "physical." Without a doubt, the internet has become our primary and daily information source. This isn't to say that the print is no longer relevant.
On the contrary, high-quality design journals that continue to publish issues in print do not appear to be losing readers' interest. On the contrary, in fact! To keep their readership inspired, entertained, and informed, design magazines aim to provide more and more high-quality content.
Today, we've compiled a list of 8 top graphic design magazines aimed at a global audience. Let's look at each one individually.
List of the Top Graphic Design Magazines
We've compiled a list of the best graphic design magazines from across the world, which we're happy to share with you. All you have to do now is pick your favorite design magazines (if you haven't already), go to your local bookstore or newsstand, and begin reading.
1. Eye Magazine
Image taken from Eye Magazine
The Eye magazine is one of the must-read design magazines. It’s for everyone interested in informed, creative, and critical writings about graphic design. It's a quarterly printed publication on the international design scene published since 1990 and is aimed at professional designers, students, and amateurs who enjoy delving into the world of visual culture. Book design, branding, critical thought, design history, artwork, information design, typography, and new media are just a few topics covered in the columns. Eye magazine may be purchased in all premium design bookstores in the UK or ordered online. For a sneak peek inside this best graphic design magazine, there is an official website called Eye before you purchase for each issue.
2. Commarts
Image taken from Commarts
Communication Arts is divided into several sectors: advertising, interactive design, photography, illustration, and typography. This magazine is a go-to source for graphic design inspiration for everyone interested in visual communication. It is undeniably popular, and it is far more than just regular design magazines.
Richard Coyne and Robert Blanchard created The Communication Arts in 1959, and it is now a three-generation family-run enterprise dedicated to inspiring all visual communicators. In addition, the Richard and Jean Coyne Family Foundation was founded in 1990 to increase aesthetic variety. The Foundation now finances 17 programs run by educational institutions and non-profit trade organizations and several annual competitions organized by the Communication Arts.
3. IdN
Image taken from IdN
IdN magazine is published in Hong Kong, but every piece is translated into English. It contains all you need to know about motion graphics, product design, publications, book design, and other aspects of graphic design. IdN is for International Designer's Network, and this journal aspires to be an international publication for creative people to magnify and unite the design community. It's one of the most daring design magazines. It's a unique situation. We strongly recommend you to go through its content if you are interested in graphic design. This is one of the must-read top graphic design magazines loved by people of all nationalities.
4. HOLO
Image taken from HOLO.
Each issue of HOLO magazine is a thorough record of trends and paradigms, mixing long-form journalism with striking photography in a premium print and featuring personal encounters with leading designers, practitioners, profiles of creative studios from around the world, as well as analysis from famous art and design professionals. The Creative Applications Network publishes HOLO, which is a biannual kaleidoscopic mix of developing trajectories in contemporary art, science, and technology, as the editors like to emphasize. It's all about developing and prototyping fanciful futures that appear before our eyes, as they say. Holo, one of Canada's leading design magazines, has a special treat for everybody who visits their website.
5. IDEA Magazine
Image taken from IDEA Magazine
The first issue of IDEA magazine was published in Tokyo in 1953. Since then, it has been published quarterly and focuses on visual communication, graphic design, and typography. As it attempts to represent various design viewpoints that coexist in Japan, it raises several major challenges. Every text in IDEA magazine is available in both Japanese and English. This graphic design magazine is offered for annual subscriptions from outside Japan. These kinds of design magazines never get outdated.
Create Awesome Design Magazines with Strikingly
There are many ways to create an online magazine. You can alter and change free magazine templates on several websites. You can use these to design and create PDFs or JPEGs of magazines based on your requirements. However, you may be concerned about how to host your graphic design magazine online, market them, and distribute them regularly.
Strikingly is a website builder that you can use to create beautiful graphic design magazines. It is a simple yet powerful platform that will allow you to build and host design magazines for free. This way, you can reach a large audience without incurring any costs. We'll walk you through the simple steps to help you design, build, and promote an online graphic design magazine using Strikingly in this post.
Image taken from Strikingly
1. Decide on the Type of Magazine You Wish to Publish
From worldwide news magazines to local literary reviews, all types and genres of publications can be created online. You must first have a precise plan for your design magazines before creating any online material.
2. Decide on the Right Platform and the Layout
The first step in creating an online magazine is to select a platform. Several website builders are suitable for displaying magazine material. Website builders are an excellent way to create a website without needing to be a developer or know how to code. You may rapidly publish your online magazine by picking a template, entering your work and contact information, and linking to a custom domain. In this post, we are discussing the process of creating design magazines on Strikingly.
3. Select a Name for the Magazine
Choose a name that will entice buyers to read the design magazines you create. The name you select should accurately define the content you post on it. Make a list of prospective magazine titles, then check if any of them have already been taken.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
4. Create a Readership for Your Magazine
To attract new readers, you must market your design magazines both in-person and online. Consider using one or more of the following methods to grow your audience.
- To find an audience, seek an existing online community interested in the same topic as your magazine. Send your work to that community (e.g., via a forum /blog post) and take their feedback into account when creating your material.
- Create business cards and distribute them in person. Make your magazine's URL prominently displayed, and distribute these cards to everyone you know.
- Make use of social media— As a result, you'll be able to increase traffic to both your website and your social media accounts. One method of integration includes social media feeds from Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, while another includes share or like buttons in the footer.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
- On the web page, include a subscribe link. This will enable readers of your design magazines to receive news and updates about your publication. Although most online publications are web-based, consider providing some of the material available via email subscription. If your magazine's contents (or at least connections to online content) are delivered directly to their inbox, readers with hectic schedules may find it more accessible. You can send the magazine to your reader as a PDF or a weblink once a new edition is ready. Strikingly allows you to send this from a custom domain email address in mass with a simple click. A pop-up form for newsletter opt-ins can be used to collect the email addresses of your website visitors.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
5. Start Publishing Content
No graphic design magazine can genuinely be said to be "up and running" until it starts publishing material online. Depending on how frequently your magazine publishes, the urgency of creating material will vary. Publish your magazine with a unique website URL once a month or week, depending on how frequently you want your design magazines to be published. You can also include a tidy catalog with issue dates and thumbnail images. This will make it easier for your readers to look through the issues and open the one they want to read.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
6. Monetize Your Magazine Website
It is not easy for everyone to create digital magazines. Nobody, in fact, has it easy. You have a lot of alternatives for monetizing your publications as a digital publisher. Google AdSense is one of the most often used methods.
Securing finances and adverts becomes simple when you collaborate with Strikingly. In a few simple steps, you may integrate Google AdSense into your magazine website in a few simple steps. Once you've completed your AdSense connection, your readers will begin to see relevant advertising whenever they visit your website or read one of your articles. You may easily place the AdSense code in the relevant spots regardless of the magazine article template you choose. Strikingly also allows you to create your own personalized adverts. You can use photos and URLs to make buttons out of them. The user will be directed to the necessary external or internal link by clicking the ad's image.
Conclusion
We looked at some of the top design magazines that every graphic designer should read and subscribe to in this blog. These are periodicals that are well-known worldwide that focus on the most recent design trends. The publications offer insight into how graphic artists might be inspired to be more creative. You can always find articles and blogs on visual design trends and topics on the internet.
On the other hand, reading printed design magazines is an experience that cannot be expressed in words. You should always read international periodicals to understand how the world's best designers operate and how you should work as well. Designers that can generate stunning artwork on a blank page are the focus of the magazines.
