Design & Production

Last checked December 2024 by Joby Yuen, Langara College Library & Information Technology practicum student.

Design

  • “30 Magazine Design & Layout Ideas to Spark Your Creativity.” Marq. Showcases magazine design and layout examples. Read Article
  • Affinity. Creative design software suite. For Mac, Windows and iOS. Visit Site
  • Cowan, Katy. “Independent Type Foundries Set to Be Popular with Designers in 2025.” Creative Bloom, Oct. 10, 2024. Highlights 20 popular independent type foundries favored by designers. Read Article
  • Del Castillo, Rizza. “Best Print Designs.” Design Rush, Dec. 2, 2024. Discovers editors’ choices for best print design of 2024. Read Article
  • Editorial Design. Pentagram. Design firm with a large portfolio of major editorial and publishing design projects. Visit Site
  • Fussel, Grace. “10 Tips for Designing High-Impact Magazines.” Envato, Sep. 11, 2023. 10 practical tips for designing impactful magazines, emphasizing the importance of layout, typography, visuals, and color schemes to create visually compelling and reader-friendly publications. Read Article
  • May, Tom. “Hotlist 2025: the Best Graphic Design Books, As Voted for by Designers.” Creative Bloom, Oct. 28, 2024. Read Article
  • “Set Up a Beautiful Magazine Layout.” Adobe Learn. Tutorial on how to use Adobe InDesign to create a magazine layout. Read Article
  • “Tips on How to Make a Magazine Cover.” FotoJet. Offers tips for creating magazine covers that stand out. Read Article

Editing

  • Editors Canada. Visit Site
  • “Production Process of Magazine Industry.” Encyclopedia.com. Read Article
  • Testy Copy Editors. Community Facebook page for professional copy editors. Visit Site
  • “What Do Editors Do?” PEAVI Professional Editors Association of Vancouver Island. A list of the various jobs and tasks for editors in the Canadian magazine industry. Read Article
  • “What Exactly Is a Copy Editor?” TheSlot.com. A beginner’s guide to being a copy editor, from a popular copy-editing blog. Read Article

Software for Designing Covers

  • Bookwright by Blurb. A desktop software able to help you create print or digital covers for free with its templates. Visit Site
  • Canva. Web based software for designing graphics to book covers. Easily download your creation as PDF or jpg or other photo file formats. Visit Site

Design Guides & Resources

  • The Canadian Press Stylebook. The Canadian Press. The definitive writing and editing style guide that sets industry standards for journalists across Canada, available in print book and online subscription versions. Visit Site
  • Chicago Manual of Style Online. Overview of a widely used editorial style guide developed by the University of Chicago, now sold as a subscription. Visit Site
  • Cober Solutions. Offers a range of marketing, creative services, pre-media, printing, and interactive solutions to help businesses grow. Visit Site.
  • The Diversity Style Guide. Guide for journalists writing about sensitive topics including race, gender, cognitive diversity, sexual orientation, religion, and more. Visit Site
  • Fiverr. Connects freelancers with clients seeking services in various categories, including graphic design. Visit Site
  • “Guidelines for Device-Independent Color Data Processing in Accordance with the ICC-Standard.” European Color Initiative. An international group working on devices for independent processing of color data in digital publication systems. Read Article
  • Monotype Fonts. Fonts.com. Font products for purchase. Visit Site
  • Pantone. The industry’s premier colour guide. Visit Site

Stock Photos

  • Getty Images. A popular stock photo and graphic service. Visit Site
  • Photocase. A stock photography library with more than 160,000 creative and unique photos, all available under a royalty-free license model. Visit Site
  • Openverse: Searches across various Creative Commons platforms for free photos, images, and audio at once. Visit Site
  • Additional sources of copyright- and attribution-free stock images:

Templates

  • “27 New Magazine Templates for 2025 (PSD & InDesign Templates).” Envato. Read Article
  • Big Huge Labs Magazine Cover Mockup Generator: A free mockup generator that makes magazine covers out of uploaded photos, provided by Big Huge Labs. Visit Site

 

 

More Resources

Codes and policies for the publishing industry
How to promote your magazine, gain readership & improve advertising
How artificial intelligence impacts publishing
For publishers, editors, writers, creators, journalism students; resources for advocacy
Boost your magazine's base and distribution strategies
For magazines and publishing professionals.
Financial support for publishers
MagsBC's resources for the business of publishing, starting & running a publication.
How to become a charity
Publishing conferences and events
Resources and rulebooks for creative industries
Editing, designing & style guides
Issues, ideas, discussions, resources & guides
Bias, exclusion, privilege & discrimination
Studies, reports & stats about diversity in publishing
Reports, statistics, & steps for a more diverse & equitable workplace
Organizations, publishers, and articles discussing data storage and recycling
Magazine industry and creative sector reports
The basics, in the workplace, and in publishing.
Tutorials, tips & tricks for the beginner & for publishers
Journalism programs & courses, learning opportunities, writing & marketing workshops
Writing, reading, editing, tokenizing
Resources for digitizing your print magazine and creating a digital magazine
Including circulation, subscriptions & printing
Internships, job boards & volunteer resources
Guide, tools, virtual launch platforms, accounting