An approach to developing the Theme

        One of the key components to your magazine will be the theme. In the magazines that I have worked on the theme has taken on several forms. In the first magazine, Surfaces, the theme was based around different surface textures. That was carried into the arrangement of the content in the magazine from soft textures to hard or rough textures. The literature followed the sections with the lighter happier things in the front, soft section, and the deeper harder things, like death in the end. It is the only of the magazines I have worked on that used sections.
        We moved onto a concept that the theme could be based on a simple shape or design. We started with the exclamation point. “!”, that’s it. We based the design, and even the final size of the magazine on the exclamation point. Last year’s was based on squares, and a folio design that disappeared as you flip through the book. This allowed for us to try and connect the 40th edition with a theme that disappeared, tying into fading memories.

        So where does this leave us now? Our last magazine didn’t fair, nationally, as we had hoped. In retrospect, we did not tie the design and the theme together as well as we could have. Now we are starting from square one. Literally! As my cohort has alluded to in the previous post, we are looking at redesigning the magazine from square one. We are learning from our current staff that our magazine, while strong with design, is not appealing to the student body. We have discussed the fact that we need to make a magazine that the students want to pick up and look at. We want them to need to have this magazine.
        The staff has begun to think about what we need. In the preliminary discussions they feel that there needs to be a little bit of mystery to the cover. They think that if we make the cover design mysterious and intriguing, students will want to pick it up. The students are thinking that the redesign of the magazine is really going to rely on the theme.

        When Bob and I began tossing this idea of redesigning the magazine, we were thinking that the design of the magazine and the theme can be separated. In our minds there can be an underlying design that permeates throughout each year’s magazine. There are pieces of the magazine that can be similar from magazine to magazine. The page, or spread, can be divided the same each year. The folio can be located in the same area and the magazine can be the same physical dimensions.
        As we talked with the students, Bob and I came to the realization that the students are not seeing the difference in what he and I are talking about and the theme. As I am writing this what I am realizing is that what the advisers are talking about are the starting points of the theme. These are the decisions that have to be the first things that you think about when putting your theme, and the magazine, together. We ran into a problem years ago with the Surfaces edition of Charisma. We decided to use 8 1/2 x 11 inch pages, but they were on their side. Instead of Tabloid we had a spread that was 22 inches wide by 8 1/2 inches tall. We wanted the magazine perfect bound, but the cost of the paper that was needed for this doubled the cost of the cover.

        By setting the size of the spread and page size, you can get an idea of cost from the start. Dividing the pages up, using a grid system, similarly will lend a style for the magazine. If you stylize your magazines title and cover design, to an extent, you can develop a standard for your magazine. This is not to say that the magazine should look identical from year to year. Setting a standard that will be used every year, you can focus on the content of the magazine. This is where our magazine has mainly faltered in the past few years. So there are benefits to taking one set of decisions out of the mix and allowing the staff to focus on other things.

        So what is the moral of this? The design of the magazine needs to grab the attention of the consumer. The theme, while being a major part of that, can have an underlying construct that guides how parts of the magazine will look from year to year. As we work through this idea of a redesign, we are going to be looking at every aspect of the magazine. A successful magazine has to do this every few years. If you don’t revisit this your magazine becomes stagnant and loses its appeal.

diversity

Now a new wrinkle has been introduced to this year's magazine: we have a very diverse group. Of course looking at them one wouldn't think that - they're all White, all female, and all the same age - but they come from a variety of backgrounds, and all have their own ideas about what a literary magazine should be.

I've asked the students to redesign the magazine this year. We need to sell more copies, or we can't really say that we're representing the students and their work. I imagine though that they all have different ideas about what a revised magazine will look like.

How will this fadge? as Viola says in Twelfth Night. I guess we'll find out.

Back to basics

“Sadly, our school doesn't even have a literary magazine. I'm very interested in starting one, and I've already talked to my English teacher about it. She seems very enthusiastic about the idea. The only problem is that I don't know where to start. I understand that I'll have to advertise and recruit staff members. But to be honest, I've only heard the idea of a literary magazine - I've never actually seen one nor do I understand what it takes to operate one. I know this type of ignorance isn't preferred in someone who wants to start a literary magazine, but I'm trying to do research. Really, though, I'm so confused. And I'm sorry to hijack the post like this, but if there's just some basic information you can share, I'd really appreciate it.” -Lynda

        This comment left by Lynda on the previous post Magazine Staff-Revisited woke me up to the fact that we haven’t defined what a Literary Magazine is. Most of us labor every year in creating our magazines, but how often do you stop and think about what it means to be a literary magazine?
        My understanding of this genre is that we publish less frequently than a newspaper, but publish at least once a year. A Literary Magazine, or Literary Arts Magazine, should contain original student writing and student art. Think of them as an anthology of the best student work for that time period (Year, Half-Year, Quarter-Year). In my time as a lit-mag adviser and dealing with the state and national competitions, I feel that we are really publishing an anthology book, not a magazine. We publish once a year with a perfect bound book. That’s how the printer refers to it, and in turn how we refer to it. So are we publishing a book or a magazine?
        The push right now seems to be more of a book style rather than magazine. I mean to say that the competitions seem to look down on magazines that are published on thinner paper or newsprint. The binding can make a difference as well. I want to make sure that it is understood that this is the impression that I have of the system. I got his impression from an experience with a lit mag that someone was judging. I was looking at a pile of magazines for judging (I wasn’t judging them), and I came across a booklet that I thought was a state standardized test. I made a comment that the judge had a test mixed in with his magazines. He said, “Look at it again.” I was amazed that this, in fact, was a lit mag that was printed on newsprint, used grayscale, and looked like a test booklet. It included the bubbles for the multiple choice answers. It was great. I didn’t delve into the writing or art, but the overall appearance was neat. They didn’t have a lot of money, but they seemed to use that to their advantage. the judging ripped apart the quality of the magazine.
        Now that is an extreme example, and I am positive that there is not a lot of this going on, but it gives me pause. My hope is that there is more of a push for quality within the bounds of a publications means. Quality should always be the first concern of any publication. Building a magazine takes time. Quality is not always attainable in the first few years. You have to build the staff and knowledge of the new software. Quality comes with time.
        
        The last thing I want to talk about in this post is in reference to inexperience. We all had to learn at some time. I had the luxury of a co-adviser who had worked with our magazine for more than a decade. There are resources available to the new advisers. The best place to start, other then this blog (I know shameless promotion), is your state press association. I am a board member and future vice-president of the Pennsylvania School Press Association. I was brought on the board by my co-adviser, and co-contributer to this blog. He and I are working in PA to bring the lit mag presence in the state to the levels of yearbook and newspaper. PSPA has also started a mentoring program for our memebers. If you are a new adviser in PA and would like to participate, go to the PSPA website and look for the informaiton.
        We are also beginning to try and get a national presences as well. the National Scholastic Press Association also has a few resources. NSPA co-sponsors a national convention in the spring and fall (one on the west coast and one on the east coast). We are going to be at the fall conference in St. Louis. We are supposed to be speaking at the conference (I will put more info up closer to the dates). Conferences are a great place to find presentations on InDesign, Photoshop, and some lit mag stuff. They are also a great place to meet other advisers and form friendships.
        I also want to say that, no matter your level of experience, the fact that you want to start or started a magazine is a great start. As I said before, we all had to learn at some point. We all should still be learning something while working with our magazines or we’re not doing something right. If you need help contact your state organization. If that doesn’t produce results contact me. I will try to help you as best I can.


        P.S.        Here are some examples I found online. I will be working on getting some examples up of our magazine on the web somewhere. The links below are from the National Scholastic Press Association. The first link has several pages from the Pacemaker winner from 2006. The pacemaker is the premier magazine from that year. It is my understanding that they do not always have the pacemaker. The second link is to one of our staffer’s awards. It shows you a single layout from the magazine that year.

2006 NSPA Pacemaker Magazine Winner
Design of the Year/Layout of the Year Winner