I have been pondering a lot lately over magazine design and content. It was precipitated by the Sun Microsystems ‘Lizzie’ awards (where despite three nominations we – AusCam - failed to score even a mention). Prior to this, a colleague had looked at the magazine and given his take on our layout, comparing it to other publications, and he felt that we had missed the mark in many areas.

I do not necessarily agree with his points, as if we follow the lead of others, we look just like them. However, a week later, I was certainly in the lion’s den facing the members of the Group whose monthly magazine we also put together. Here, it was a case of explaining the rationale of the design – which is not unlike AusCam – and 99% of people were happy with what we are doing, in terms of both layout and content.

However, it got me thinking; what makes the perfect magazine? Ignoring the obvious answer of ‘no advertising’ which patently is impossible, I’d love to know what people like to see – or not – in magazines both in the context of content, design, structure and so on. Just as the perfect video camera has specific attributes* I am sure that a publication must also.

So for starters, what are your thoughts on:

• Number of pages
• Physical size
• Font type (serif or sans serif)
• Font size
• Justification (left or justified)

And what about content? Or the cover? Is there a hole in the market – tech or otherwise – that needs filling? What should such a magazine cost on the newsstand? On the other hand, should it be subscription only?

I’m curious. Let me know.

*Email me if you want to know ....