Editorial Design · Page 6 of 7
Type system & pacing
Choose a three-typeface system, then plan the rhythm of the whole issue.
A type system
Type is the biggest constant in a magazine. Most strong magazine systems use three typefaces, each with a clear job.
- DisplayPlayfair DisplayHeadline only. Big and brief.
- Clean sansMontserratKicker, byline, subhead, caption. Works in caps.
- TextLoraDeck and body. Calm, with a full family.
| Role | What to look for | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Display | A visually engaging face with personality. It may only look good large and short. | Headlines, the masthead, big numbers |
| Clean sans | A modern face that works in lowercase and all caps | Kickers, subheads, bylines, captions, folios |
| Text | A very legible face with a large family (more than regular, bold and italic) | Body text, decks, pull quotes. The extra weights give you emphasis without adding a fourth typeface. |
A short size scale
- Aa8 ptCaption, folio
- Aa9.5 ptBody
- Aa14 ptDeck
- Aa24 ptPull quote
- Aa48 ptHeadline
Hierarchy tips
- Use contrast, not just size. Mix scale, weight, case, color and space. A small all-caps kicker above a large headline reads instantly.
- Do the squint test (from Pair fonts). Squint at a spread: headline, deck and body should blur to clearly different shades of gray.
- Limit your sizes. Pick a short scale (for example 8, 9.5, 14, 24, 48 pt) and stick to it.
- Keep body text calm. It’s the part people read the longest. Let headlines, pull quotes and images bring the drama.
- Check the details: real quotes and apostrophes, en and em dashes, no widows or orphans, even rags and no double spaces.
Use the Choosing Fonts lesson to pick each role:
- Assessing a typeface: check x-height, contrast and family size before you choose a text face.
- Match the font to the message: let the display face carry the magazine’s mood.
- Pair fonts for visual hierarchy: contrast, not conflict, match the bones, pair a personality with a neutral, test every style and do the squint test.
- Pairing lab: try headline and body pairs before you build your type study.
Two typefaces or three? Choosing Fonts recommends two for most designs, and a third only in one small place. A magazine follows the same rule: the display face appears only in headlines, while the sans and the text face do everything else. If your display face is used anywhere else, it becomes a conflict.
Each type study combines one typeface from each role above. Set real headline, deck, body and caption text at real sizes, then print it. Once you choose a study, turn each line into a paragraph style.
Pacing the whole issue
Readers move through a magazine like a film: some moments are loud, some are quiet. Plan that rhythm before you design details.
A sample storyboard. The bars show how “loud” each spread is. Loud openers are always followed by quieter pages, and the italic names are the parent pages each spread uses. No two loud spreads sit side by side.
- Thumbnail first. Sketch small spreads on the provided templates. Sketch the text as lines and blocks; it’s faster and shows the structure better.
- Storyboard all the content. Decide how many pages each piece needs (a poem might take 1 page, a story 3) to set your page count.
- Alternate loud and quiet. Follow a dramatic, image-heavy opener with calmer text pages. Don’t put two big openers side by side.
- Build layout options as parent pages. For example: A-Base (folios only), B-Opener, C-Text 3 col, D-Image + Text. Rotate them so the same layout isn’t repeated a lot in one section.
- Create interest without photos. Some spreads won’t have room for a photo or won’t have one. Use color fields, rules, oversized type, spot illustrations or geometric patterns.
© Created by Sara Rosenstock, Marietta College Graphic Design.