What is a magazine?

Let’s start with the meaning of a magazine.

A magazine is a collection of articles, stories, photographs, and often advertisements sandwiched between attention-getting front and back covers.

Magazines are typically published on a regular schedule, be that once a month, bi-monthly, quarterly, etc.

Originally, magazines were always printed, but today they can be distributed digitally as well. Magazines generally finance themselves by a combination of advertisements, prepaid subscriptions, and their purchase price.

The definition of a magazine also involves creating editorial and commercial content. Editorial content in a magazine refers to all content that is written to inform, educate, or entertain. It’s the opposite of commercial content or advertising copy, which is written to sell something.

How to make a magazine

Learning how to make a magazine is a huge undertaking. For starters, to define a magazine and get a better idea of what it entails, you must understand magazine anatomy and design. Then, you and your team will need to wear several hats to create a project you can be proud of.

One of the ways you can cut down on the demands of time, energy, and expense is to use a professionally designed magazine layout template.

Magazine layout templates give you an aesthetically appealing structure with placeholders for many components of a magazine, like the text, graphics, and the pictures of a magazine. When you customise the template, the layout stays locked in place, and you replace the placeholders with your own content.

If you want to explore some resources to learn more about how to make a magazine, here are some complete tutorials that define a magazine and give you more information on them:

Common magazine questions answered (FAQ)

Magazines are fascinating but a bit complicated. There are several styles of magazines, plenty of terms associated with them, and a lot more to learn if you want to master them completely. If you need a hand, here are some answers that will send you on your way.

1. What is a masthead in a magazine?

To define a magazine masthead, you need to know it’s a crucial part of any magazine. Basically, it’s a section that includes some of the most important information about the magazine (like the title, staff, publisher, contact information, etc.). You can often find it on the cover or within the first few pages, regularly in big letters to catch the attention of the reader.

Fashion Magazine

TALK | LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

Sport Magazine

2. What size is a magazine?

If your heart is really into it, you can customise your magazine’s size to be anything you want, depending on the style of magazine you’re creating (even if it’s more challenging to produce). However, if you’re wondering about regular sizes that define a magazine, there’s:

standard magazine dimensions (8.5 x 11 inches, or 21.59 x 27.94 cm): the most common magazine size, and the one you’re probably most familiar with.
compact magazine dimensions (5.5 x 8.5 inches, or 13.97 x 21.59 cm): also known as the “digest size”, this one is smaller and often used in niche publications.

Magazine

Multipurpose Indesign Magazine

Minimal Magazine

3. What is an article in a magazine?

Articles are mostly written content that fill up the pages of a magazine, meaning they’re the meaty part.

Articles focus on one topic related to the style of magazine they’re in (be it news, lifestyle, travel, etc.). They can be long or short, superficial or in-depth, image-heavy or wordy. Their structure is typically made up of a headline, byline, body, and visuals (like the pictures of a magazine, infographics, charts, and more).

Magazine

4. What is a digital magazine?

You may know about traditional print magazines. But are you aware that digital magazines exist? In a lot of ways, they’re the same as print. What’s different is that you read them on a computer, smartphone, or tablet. They’re modern and offer interactivity, accessibility, and more dynamic content. You can find them on sites, apps, or emails.

Watch this video to create a stunning and appealing digital (or print) magazine:

Leckery Layout

Simplify Magazine

Magazine

Learn what a magazine is through a video!

If you’d like to get another magazine definition, check out the “What Is a Magazine” video over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

Get more magazine help from Envato Tuts+

Magazines are a big subject. Luckily for you, Envato Tuts+ can guide you through it with these tutorials:

Choose your favourite magazine template

Now that you’ve seen a magazine definition and learned how to create stunning magazines using templates, head on over to Envato and select your favourite template.

And finally, if you want more information on magazine layout templates, check out these really helpful articles below:

Post date August 18, 2021

This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Nona Blackman

What is a magazine?

Let's start with the meaning of a magazine.

A magazine is a collection of articles, stories, photographs, and often advertisements sandwiched between attention-getting front and back covers.

Magazines are typically published on a regular schedule, be that once a month, bi-monthly, quarterly, etc.

The definition of a magazine also involves creating editorial and commercial content. Editorial content in a magazine refers to all content that is written to inform, educate, or entertain. It's the opposite of commercial content or advertising copy, which is written to sell something.

How to make a magazine

One of the ways you can cut down on the demands of time, energy, and expense is to use a professionally designed magazine layout template.

If you want to explore some resources to learn more about how to make a magazine, here are some complete tutorials that define a magazine and give you more information on them:

Common magazine questions answered (FAQ)

To define a magazine masthead, you need to know it's a crucial part of any magazine. Basically, it's a section that includes some of the most important information about the magazine (like the title, staff, publisher, contact information, etc.). You can often find it on the cover or within the first few pages, regularly in big letters to catch the attention of the reader.

Fashion Magazine

TALK | LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

Sport Magazine