Lily Baldwin
ARGD 3070
Professor Knowles
Fall 2020
The Evolution of Design and Magazine Journalism
Magazines are a product of two important cultural staples that exist in all societies:
journalism and design. These also happen to be two of my favorite subjects, and my major and
minor, respectively. Magazine journalism has changed immensely in the last century alone,
design being the most notable ever-changing element in journalism. With the “death” of print
journalism in the last decade, as well as naturally evolving design preferences, techniques and
technology, one can only imagine how much magazine journalism will be affected by design in
the coming years. It is certain that design methods will continue to evolve, and in order to keep
public interest in journalism, magazines must change along with those methods. In the midst of
the digital age that will likely never end, there is no doubt that magazine journalism will always
be intertwined with digital and print design, and they will continue to be inseparable from one
another.
Magazines have been a staple of journalism since
the 17th century (Britannica). They have always been a
medium that allows for the collision of various arts, culture
and opinions. The earliest magazines in the mid-to-late 1600s
brought together poetry, essays, art, reviews and more.
Magazines were intellectual, philosophical and mainly catered
to the highly educated in upper society. As literacy increased,
so did the audience for magazines; this meant that more
women, minority groups and middle and lower class citizens
could come together with differing political opinions, artistic
talents and perspectives. As politics, fashion, and art began to
find their place in magazine journalism, the formats of
magazines changed with the advancing times (Feasley &
This is the first ever published cover of
Harper’s Bazaar Magazine in 1867.
Stuart). The design of magazines has grown increasingly important since their beginning. They
were originally published using the same paper mediums that newspapers and other pamphlets
utilized at that time. They were put through printing presses and distributed in black and white
with little visuals beyond text (Britannica). As art became a more integral part of magazine
journalism, design became increasingly more modern and eye-catching. Monthly magazines
became more popular, especially in Europe and the United States, but didn’t really begin to grow
quickly as an industry until the early 20th century.
Magazines such as Vogue, which started up in 1892, began to expand around this time.
It was the turn of the century, and fashion and lifestyle became bigger focuses amongst
magazines, as readers craved content they could relate to (Vogue). Drawings by early Art Deco
artist Erté graced the covers of growing magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. His
designs combined new and fashionable clothing with artistic flair and dramatic lines and colors.
Magazines were no longer only intended to be read; they were also meant to be seen. The art
engaged the readers in the written content by providing a
visual for the text. Between 1920 and 1950, the practice of
mixing art and journalism became not only more popular and
profitable, but more essential as well (Feasley & Stuart).
Current day magazines wouldn’t be defined as such without
their recognizable layouts and visual elements. Design
became an important part of branding in the publication
industry. Tabloids, for example, have a very distinct way of
designing their covers. Designers tend to curate tabloids in a
way that is shocking to the eye with both text and images.
They use bright fonts, large, white letters, and fill the page
with various clipped images. The chaos of this design can be
seen and immediately recognized as a tabloid magazine.
Magazines like Vogue developed their branding over time
This 1918 Vogue cover was designed
by Art Deco artist, Erté.
with recognizable fonts and logos. The current Vogue
masthead font has been using the typeface Didot since the early
1950s, and their logo has come to be a representation of their entire publication as we’ve come to
recognize it.
Aside from typography, many other new design elements have come into play as
design has evolved over time. Photography, for example, broke its way into the world of
magazine journalism in the mid 20th century. Colored printing and photography allowed for
images to be displayed in vibrant colors that helped to convey the content and feel of the stories
they accompanied (Feasley & Stuart). Post-printing press era and pre-digital age, magazines
were primarily designed during a process called “pasting up.” During paste-up, the designers of
the magazine would literally cut out the words of a story and manually paste them onto a page
along with photos, graphics and artistic detailing. Edits would be made using X-Acto knives, and
then sent to the printer once the editors were satisfied (Dalefield). Laying out a story is extremely
important to the process of creating a visually pleasing magazine, as the stories are only
considered as good as they way they are presented. It is a widely understood rule in the world of
journalism that a story must have intriguing visuals and must be presented in a way that engages
readers and keeps them entertained. The digital age came along and computers were integrated
into the magazine journalism industry in the late 1990s. This innovation propelled magazine
journalism in a direction that was unprecedented, yet much more efficient.
With the move towards computerized design techniques taking place, it was no longer
sufficient to have a well-written story with decent photos. Publishing stories online began in the
early 2000s and has expanded
exponentially in the last decade. The
qualifications for a career in journalism
require much more than the simple
reporting skills that were standard
The iconic Vogue logo has utilized the
typeface Didot for over half a century.
This is an image from the video “The Lost Art of Paste-Up” made
by the London Book Review, demonstrating how the process
happens with an X-Acto knife.
before the digital age. Journalism has incorporated
design so deeply into its processes that journalists
must know the design skills to create a multimedia
story that engages readers. Interactive stories tend
to have the most views and engagement from
consumers; infographics, clickable links and
buttons, moving pictures and videos, and colorful
graphic elements are needed to create a complete
and successful story (Christian). If one does not
have the proper design experience with current
programs such as Adobe and Canva, it is very
Fashion magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar include
interactive elements, such as clickable links and buttons
in their stories where users can go straight from reading
an article to buying the featured pieces online.
difficult to break into a career in journalism.
It’s nearly impossible to wrap my mind around the changes magazine journalism will
go through in the future. Since the “death” of print journalism, many magazines have lost
revenue and had to stop production of paper prints, or stop business altogether. Magazines that I
personally grew up with have come to an end in
the last few years. While print journalism will
always have a sense of novelty for all of us who
grew up thumbing through magazines rather than
scrolling, the evolution of technology is
unstoppable. Because this evolution is
unstoppable and magazines cannot exist as we’ve
come to know them without the existence of
modern technology, it is inevitable that the design
of magazines will also change tremendously as
well. Magazine journalism now places more
importance on the overall aesthetic of a story; a
designer understands that the way a story is laid
out and presented has an immense effect on how
This December 2020 Vogue cover featured musician
Harry Styles wearing a dress, which received lots of
backlash and also support from readers who found
the photoshoot controversial yet brave.
the story is absorbed by readers (Solaroli). I
foresee all magazines eventually going
paperless and moving completely online,
mainly because advertising (which is how most
magazines make the bulk of their profit) is
much cheaper when advertisements are digital.
Content online is also much more accessible,
and therefore expands the audiences of
magazines greatly (Christian). The digital age
has also allowed more forms of art to be included
in magazine journalism. One example of this is
video. Vogue receives millions of views on their
This image is a screen grab from the Behind the Scenes
video that accompanied Styles’ interview article online.
Viewers could watch Styles playing acoustic songs during
the photoshoot for the magazine.
YouTube channel, where they post filmed
interviews with the celebrities, designers and icons they speak with. Rather than posting a written
question-and-answer, videos can be viewed, liked, shared and commented on. Engagement is
becoming increasingly important in magazine journalism. A large part of the business side of
magazine journalism focuses on tracking the engagement magazines get online. If users interact
with a story, that story is mathematically more likely to be viewed by more readers (Christian).
Pictured above is the homepage of Vogue magazine’s website, where
printed and digital-only stories are posted daily. Readers can click on
different tabs to read different sections of the publication.
Ultimately, while the transition from paper to digital journalism had some resistance
and resulted in some losses in the industry, the move has allowed for magazines to increase their
readership and utilize more multimedia and design within stories. Because the internet has
become such an integral part of our communication as human beings, we’ve started to consume
more information. Our brains are required to multitask, and therefore it’s expected that our
attention spans can be short and our ability to retain all that information has declined (Christian).
The evolution of design has enhanced magazine journalism and arguably made it what it is today.
Like everyone else, I have no idea how technology will evolve from here and how that will
further affect design and ultimately magazine journalism. However, I do know that the
integration of art into any journalistic platform can only lead to improvement. As we all navigate
the digital world we live in, the importance of design only grows. Personally, I would have never
thought I would have an art minor along with my journalism major. I’ve come to learn that not
only are design skills an asset in the career field I plan to enter, but they’re becoming
increasingly necessary. I’ll do my best to keep up with the changing times, and I’m excited to see
how journalism and design will further collide during my time as a journalist.
I’ve included just two examples of some of my
favorite magazine designs, both print and digital. To
the left, I’ve included a multi-part digital story by
the New York Times called “Snow Fall,” which
features infographics, audio clips, maps, videos,
GIFs, photos and more interactive elements. Above
is a printed story from I.D. Magazine where I find
the type design as well as the overall layout to be
incredibly beautiful and well-executed.
Works Cited
Christian, Sue Ellen. Everyday Media Literacy: An Analog Guide For Your Digital Life.
Routledge, 2020.
Dalefield, Bryony, speaker. The Lost Art of Paste-Up. The London Review of Books, 14 Oct.
2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwrePe4ID4&ab_channel=LondonReviewofBooks%28LRB%29.
Durham, Meenakshi Gigi. “Revolutionizing the Teaching of Magazine Design.” Journalism
& Mass Communication Educator, vol. 53, no. 1, 1998, pp. 23–32.,
doi:10.1177/107769589805300104.
Feasley, Florence & Stuart, Elnora. “Magazine Advertising Layout and Design: 1932–1982.”
Journal of Advertising, Nov. 1986.
“Magazine Publishing.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encycloedia Britannica, Inc.,
www.britannica.com/topic/publishing/Magazine-publishing.
Mooallem, Stephen. “150 Years of Harper's Bazaar.” Harper's BAZAAR, Harper's BAZAAR, 21
Nov. 2016, www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a18658/history-of-harpers-bazaar/.
Solaroli, Marco. “Toward A New Visual Culture Of The News.” Digital Journalism, vol. 3, no. 4,
2015, pp. 513–532., doi:10.1080/21670811.2015.1034523.
“Vogue - History.” Vogue, Condé Nast, www.condenast.ru/en/portfolio/magazines/vogue/
history/.