The Magazine Layout: Print Trends Online

The distinction between print and online layout standards is blurring. People are seeing more and more conventional print layouts used in websites as well. Why is that? Some people think it’s because old habits die hard. Readers are so attuned to seeing these standard layout designs on magazines that they think it would be chic to apply them on websites as well.

Content managers, on the other hand, find the magazine layout more attractive than other website layouts because it keeps the text and images in neat, distinct columns. The result is a text-heavy page which is tight but not visually appalling. After all, how can one disagree with years of experience? Print media has been applying the same “look” for decades, and the magazines continue to sell.

Company owners mostly nod in agreement. They read the Time Magazine, and are big fans of the layout as well. They think it looks more professional, and it does let the website highlight as many articles as possible without letting the website elements look cluttered. For them, the design appears sleek. It’s automatically information-heavy. Therefore, it’s attractive for website visitors who are curious about the content being offered by the site.

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The magazine layout, in other words, will work well for websites which have a lot of textual content to offer. Just like a print magazine, a website using an online magazine needs to reflect the personality of its target readers. It can be as straightforward and plain as a business magazine, or as flamboyant as an image-heavy kid’s magazine. This will be upon the discretion of the layout artist and the idea s/he plans to deliver.

The only downside to this layout is that it may be too busy for website visitors wishing to see less text and more images. This layout design is the antithesis of the billboard single-page design. If the website wants to copy the look of an old fashioned food magazine, though, because it’s a website for a food channel, then the magazine design will definitely work better than any image-heavy single page layout.

If you require a magazine layout for your CMS website contact Ignition Media. Our Gold Coast website designers love web 2.0 design and code with only the best css to ensure you’re site meets the highest standards.