Advanced Magazining

Numbers

For the back page of Wharton Magazine, Luke and I simply blew up a single number with a one-paragraph explanation.

For the same magazine, we created an “Indicators” department with a wild array of numerical typography.

For Rotary Magazine, we made a mini-department called “Scale Model,” which used multiples of a number (5, in this case) to show various choices or decisions.

Takeaways

I love seeing little abstracts with feature stories. In Rotary Magazine, I called them “Takeaways.” In Attaché magazine—a classy, lamented inflight for US Airways—I called them The Ticket. In the back of the book was the Big Ticket, with abstracts as well as follow-up information for readers to take action. Takeaways can serve as ready-made social media lead-ins, coaxing readers onto your site.

Interactive Photo Spread

Yes, you do photo spreads already. But the secret to photo spreads online is to make them interactive, allowing readers to mouse over parts of the picture. It’s not that hard to code, provided you have the information. First, though, make sure your photo actually contains some “service” — something of use to your readers, if only to show how they can insert themselves into the scene.

But spreads don’t have to feature beautiful photography. On a couple of alumni publications, I had writers ask popular professors to give a lecture while drawing on a whiteboard. We then have a photographer shoot the board, while the writer crafts callouts for the concepts. Readers absolutely love this. And you now have the content you need for online mouse-overing.

Timeline

Readers love timelines, and they work just as well online. Microsoft offers a variety of templates, such as this one. Go to templates.office.com.

Process Edit

Show how the sausage is made at your institution, from start to finish. This takes some design chops; you can get ideas from templates at Adobe and other fine places. Or go simple with a series of boxes that show Step One, Step Two, etc. Each element can serve as social media fodder.

Ticker

This is a sets of news items that run down the sides, or across the bottom, of your news section. (“Ticker” in some magazines, “Short Takes” in others. Call it what you want.) Readers like magazines that seem packed with information. And you now have tweet-length instant assets.

Listicle

You probably already do listicles — a category that’s a perennial online winner. Now get ambitious. Use an anniversary or other significant number, and make it your cover story. (Here’s a listicle that one of our clients, Colgate Magazine, did for its bicentennial.) At the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, we did a special issue on the 50 ways Dartmouth changed the world. For Scuba Diving magazine, I asked the art director for a numeral he most would love to see on the cover. He said, “137.” So we came up with “137 Ways to Have Fun Underwater.” It outsold all the other issues on the newsstand.

Quoticle

Bunch quotes together on a single topic. Then tag the quotees’ names on social media for an extra content bounce.

Charticle

Look up charts online, and devise a back-page or other department. I love game boards — such as this one we did for Penn Nursing — as a way to show an individual’s progress through a career or a successful business or cause.

Map

A great way to show off your institution’s global reach, while making your smaller stories look important. Extra points if you make this interactive.

Non-Q&A

The Q&A is the most overused, and frankly boring, format in magazines. Instead, skip the Q and go straight to the A, using bold lead-ins or subheads. The piece can then be broken up on Twitter or Instagram.

Teaser Page

For a few magazines, I’ve devised a Checklist page on the back cover or as part of the table of contents—a list of things you can do after you read the issue. This works much better than the usual CTA (call to action) boxes. And you can use them as social media lead-ins or posters.

Explosion

Take an item and show its parts. This makes a great back-page department.

Rebus

This is a set of symbolic images, sometimes embedded in text, a la emojis. I love this for a cover about a complex subject.

Et Cetera!

These products cover only some of the assets you can use to make your magazine more interactive and online-friendly. Think of doing a glossary, a survey word cloud, extremely long captions, and (one of my favorites) a decision tree. Get in touch if you want advice to help you solve your packaging problems.