Designing Magazines for Print and Web

By Angelica Covino

Being a Graphic Design major, I had the opportunity to create my own magazine for print and for web. I have always loved magazines since my early teens, admiring the clothing and celebrities like an average girl.

As I grew older, I started to look at the layouts more carefully, and the techniques used to create them. My interest in magazine design was put into play when the college offered a class called “Computer Studio 2.” This class was focused on magazine design.

Students in Computer Studio 2 were a mixture of Graphic Design majors and Computer Science majors. Professor Bellisio assigned groups of three for the class of twelve. I was with two male students, a fellow Graphic Design major and a Computer Science major. We decided on making a fashion magazine for both genders.

We came up with the name “Glam & Class” and the season we focused on was winter. We divided up the many spreads a magazine has. Some include articles about winter clothing, Valentine’s Day, Horoscope, Letter from the Editor and, of course, Advertisements. Once those were finished, we compiled each other’s parts and made three issues, January, February and March. I enjoyed this project greatly because I was able to create my own magazine, be a designer, and feel as if I were living out my dream. My interest grew immensely due to this project.

This year, the class “Web Design” was a major requirement to take. This class is focused on re-designing an existing website that is not appealing to viewers. Since I am interested in fashion, I chose a store close to home that sells women’s jewelry and handbags. I created a new home page for the store and the secondary pages for the drop down listings on the main navigation bar. This project has not concluded yet. Professor Bellisio instructed us to slice our page, in order to create links for the navigation bar by using Adobe programs. I enjoy this project because it combines both of my interests, design and fashion.

Last year, I declared a minor in my college career. Communication Arts intertwines with Graphic Design in many aspects that I did not know until I took my first Communications class. Introduction to Mass Media, taught by Dr. Klein, was a very influential course for me. This class focused on the different forms of media in the news. Radio, Television, the Internet and the on-going popularity of Social Media applications are touched upon in Dr. Klein’s class. Towards the end of the semester, she proposed a project with two parts: a written paper and an in-class presentation. The question we had to answer was “What is the most valuable source of media in your life?”

I chose magazines because of how far back my interest in them goes and how I refer to them currently in design. I spoke about the history of print magazines, and the differences and similarities to today’s print magazines. Lastly, I brought up the on-going shift to online publications and how this generation would rather go to the magazine’s website for a particular article than go to the store and buy the copy. I liked this assignment because it enabled me to do more research on magazines and how they evolved over time.

Magazines merge my fields of study, Graphic Design and Communications. I am very passionate about my work and I am very excited to continue it in the work world!


Angelica Covino is a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas College, majoring in Graphic Design with a minor in Communication Arts. She loves designing magazine layouts and wants to land a job at a magazine company after she graduates.