There is a direct correlation with the bottom line figure and the organisation of the publisher and it always will be that way. How many of you actually get a page plan together structure all your files in the right page order with copy ready to cut and paste with tight brand guidelines to make sure that your magazine designer can work fluidly and without hindrance.
Looking across various designers and their charges experience costs money as it should. The more experienced designer will be used to translating your magazine vision and creating your next masterpiece. In our experience the lesser experienced magazine designers are less confident in applying design flair and placing content where they feel it should be. Usually we see twice as much content in a publication than is required and the designers job is to shoe horn it all in, this takes time so be aware of the miracles you expect your designers to perform.
Most designers work on an hourly rate not on a per job basis and the better designers will be able to work faster thus saving you money. It is always worth asking for a fixed cost for the job but be fair on the amount of amendments you make as this is often not budgeted for.
Now we have seen magazine design costs as high as £80 per hour all the way down as low as £15 per hour. But is there any real tangible difference?
There is a very big difference in designers quality and feedback. They all can make items pretty and conform to brand standards, but make sure your magazine designer understands how to set items to be ‘print ready’ and if you are producing content for an online magazine do they understand the right file resolutions (PPI vs DPI) and formats. The imagery and layout of your magazine will be the making of you. It’s your personality and the reason your readers know to pick up the latest copy. So make sure the design is set in the way that all will recognise, the right fonts, the right image style and most importantly the right colour pallet.
One big thing that gets missed a lot with all magazine designers is the file transfer process, you want to all be able to access the latest version of an image or text so that you are all looking at the same information. The cloud/internet has provided some great inventions for file sharing and collaborative working tools. Make sure your information to your graphic designer is up to date and all parties are aware of how to access the latest versions of the files. It will only save you time and money once the process is established.
If you need any further help with magazine design ideas, workflow and collaborative file sharing tools we have seen them all and worked with most. We would love to hear from you. Why not pick up the phone and say hello or fill in one of our enquiry forms.