15 Graphic Design Magazines You Should Definitely Subscribe To

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There are so many ways to find inspirational content on the digital platform through the internet. The number of lists of resources is innumerable and very impressive. But the power of reading a physical magazine still cannot be underestimated. Especially the magazines from the field of graphic design are influential. They don’t fail to fill our creativity with vibrant colors and amazing design ideas.

No one can undermine the experience of going through a local bookstore to find good magazines from the graphic design category. And, a printed copy is always a better option than the soft copy. The right way to find the best content about graphic design is by reading international magazines. Taking a glimpse at how the influential graphic designers are doing can do wonders to your motivation levels. Let us take a look at the list of similar kind of magazines from around the globe that inspires the entire world.

They do have websites so that you can read the magazines online. But there is something about experiencing the world of graphic design through the layout of the magazine pages. Let us take a look:

1. Juxtapoz:

It is a quarterly printed magazine that prints in San Francisco, California. They have content about all the fields of Creative Arts like graphic designing, music, street arts, and painting. Juxtapoz gives out a  magazine every season, and it is one of the most read magazines. Every content on the Creative Arts features in the magazine, and the readers from the globe consider it essential. A copy of the magazine without subscription is available for $9.99. Their latest issue came out on the shelves in summer 2020. The cover story and the artwork of the magazine features a watercolor painting by a Brooklyn-based painter. The picture talks about the global suffering of anxiety, fear, harmony, and togetherness amidst the pandemic that spans the entire world.

2. Wallpaper:

Wallpaper is a US magazine that is published every month of the year. It has been in the business for a very long time. Along with the graphic design, fashion, and travel, it also features architecture and interior design articles. The magazine caters to all kinds of designers. Wallpaper is proud to have the best architects and designers from all over the world. They are the ones who bring all the new designs for the world to see.

3. Communication Arts:

Communication Arts is a bimonthly published magazine from the United States of America. Every issue of the magazine covers the content on themes like illustration, typography, or interactivity. These kinds of magazines never fail to inspire your creativity and bring out the best in you, even if it is an old issue. Their latest issue features award-winning projects from their 61^st Annual Photography competition. They have also talked about the profiles of Buck, which is a motion design studio based in Los Angeles. Moreover, they also speak about Brooklyn illustrator Ping Zhu, Netherlands design duo Team Thursday among other insightful things. The website allows you to view the website issue, view PDF issues online, of the magazine, download it in PDF format, and buy it.

4. Eye Magazine:

Eye Magazine is a graphic design journal that publishes four times a year in the United Kingdom. Designers all over the world collect these magazines like gems because all the issues contain insightful information on the respective field. Every page of the magazine features international visual culture. The latest issue that is out now, talks about graphic design and Rick Poynor’s early years at Eye magazine. The magazine is available to buy online for £27.

5. Disegno Daily:

It is another graphic design that gets published quarterly in the United Kingdom. Disegno Daily is known for its unique perspective on graphic design, architecture, and fashion. They are known for a stunning cover page design, and it is sure to kick your boredom away. Disegno focuses on critical writing on designs. The issues include the reportage, photo essays, profiles, interviews, and reviews along with roundtables.

Disegno Daily talks about architecture, fashion, urbanism, and graphics. They discuss politics, art photography, academic analysis, and current affairs for the design-focused audience. Disegno is also known to run programs like workshops, lectures, panel discussions, podcasts, and of course, parties. The website of the magazine is also updated to feature the current affairs in the field of design. You can subscribe to the magazine according to various plans based on your location.

6. Graphic:

The Graphic is a unique design magazine from Seoul, Korea, since 2007. The magazine focuses on unusual things and not mainstream issues. Every issue comes with a theme that is hard to decode and interpret. They don’t allow international subscriptions, but you can buy older issues online from the magazine resellers. The designers don’t care even if the issues are old, the contents are always fresh. The Graphic is known to capture every upcoming trend in the world of design, and each issue focuses only on one theme. The issues are available in Korean as well as the English language. It is an independent magazine that does not rely on government or any other organization for financial support. Lately, Graphic is available for reading in America, Korea, Asia, Europe, and so on.

7. Novum:

Novum is around 90-year old graphic design magazine that is published every month in Germany. It has started to publish the issues since 1950. Initially, the magazine was available only in the German language, but now it is bilingual. The issues are available in both digital and print formats. They feature contents on corporate design, branding, typography, and all the perspectives of graphics design. It is one of the leading collected magazines in the world. They also write about new trends and highlight the budding talent of the country. Novum is also known to focus on different design fields like paper, book design, or illustrative representation.

8. IDN:

IDN magazine is a design-focused magazine that is published bimonthly in Hong Kong. The issues ship to all parts of the world and are a favorite in international markets. IDN stands for International Design Community, and each issue focuses on one theme. They focus on specific design domains like infographics and branded stationery. Any design agency in any country has a copy of this magazine. IDN is a magazine that deals primarily with design-related projects under the heading of “infographics.” They say, infographics mean information and graphics combined. The issue that we look at here focuses on the User interface and its designs. IDN has eight pages of coverage and 160 pages filled with their specialized content. The issues are available in Chinese and English editions.

9. Slanted:

Slanted is one of the latest design journals, but they publish significant issues with around 300 or more pages that are visually appealing to the eyes. The magazine publishes in Germany twice a year, where each issue focuses on a theme from a different country every time. It’s bilingual editions feature new and budding design projects from every country with detailed stories. Slanted is all about design, cultures, and collection of best essays from the previous editions of the same magazine.

10. Printed Pages:

Printed Pages is a magazine that talks about the best design projects from all around the globe and the people behind these projects. It is published bi-annually by a publishing house called It’s Nice That, based in the United Kingdom. The magazine features everything that happened in the last six months since its previous edition was published. It lets the readers of the magazine be creative in the wildest ways possible.

11. Idea:

Idea magazine has been in the market since the 1950s and is still a strong contender in the field. It is a Japanese magazine that prints and publishes its editions quarterly. The Idea focuses on graphic design and typography based on Japanese designs. The design fanatics, who prefer Japanese designs, read this magazine daily. They don’t guarantee that their editions are published in English if the publication is available to another country.

12. Creative Review:

Creative Review is one of the leading design magazines from the United Kingdom that are published every two monthly and annually. The magazine has been into the creativity business since 1980 and has been a reader’s favorite since then. Creative Review features design aspects like an advertisement, graphic design, photography, branding issues, social media, and its platforms, books, and music. It also has issues that talk about movies, illustrative representations, and television.

Each issue focuses minutely on its digital content as well as high-quality articles that educate its reader and is successful in inspiring them. Even though it bases in the UK, it has caught the attention of several international readers. And they claim to have half of the readers from different countries apart from the UK. The magazine is available for reading on print media as well as online copies. If you subscribe to the magazine, you can have premium content on their website as well as all the magazine issues.

13. Form:

Form magazine is a German magazine published every two months, which is available in print media and digital formats. It was established in 1957 and has so far gained recognition as one of the best design magazines available internationally. The magazine focuses highly on the readers of all the ages that are inclusive of designers, teachers, students, architects, and more. Form educates, inspires, and motivates its readers globally. Its high-quality features in designs, exhibitions, festivals, lectures, competitions, workshops, and trade fairs have been a reader’s favorite.

All the issues are published in German and English languages and have three parts: Filter, Focus, and Files. The filter section covers news about designs, upcoming trends, and research projects. It also includes information about fairs and launches of new products in the forthcoming months. The focus portion covers an in-depth analysis of a critical topic for each edition. The files include discussion and reviews of the events centered around the design world.

14. Holo:

The holo magazine is a design-focused magazine based in Toronto, Canada. It consists of 200 pages that talk about rendezvous with top designers, creative studio profiles. Holo talks about design analysis from experts in the art industry, which makes each issue an epitome of trends, perspectives that mix journalism with photography. Every issue is published in a premium print format bi-annually by Creative Applications Network. It represents the trend record beautifully in contemporary art, science, and technology, of which Holo editors are proud. They emphasize on the design fields and futuristic trends that can be available to the readers through the magazine.

15. Komma Magazine:

This magazine was a brain-child of student work at the Faculty of Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Mannheim, Germany. The editions are run and published by students, with the writers also being the students. The student-editors edit the content with ever-changing writers. They provide high-quality works on the designs, themes, and guest works from various famous designers. The magazine also includes theses work for Bachelors and Masters. Hence it provides theoretical knowledge on graphic design topics in-depth. Komma magazine’s most significant feature is, its editions are free of cost. If you are a design agency, designer, or creative bureau, you get a free copy as soon as it is out.

Conclusion:

In this blog, we took a glimpse at some of the leading design magazines that every graphic designer should read and subscribe to. These are internationally acclaimed magazines that focus on the latest design trends. The magazines provide an insight into how they can inspire creativity out of graphic designers. You can always read articles and blogs about visual design trends and subjects online. But the experience of reading a printed design magazine cannot be described in words. You should always read international magazines to get an understanding of how the top most designers work and how you should work. The magazines are all about the designers that can create beautiful artwork on a blank page.