Top graphic design magazines you should read
The graphic design magazines professionals read can tell a lot about a career.
When talking about graphic design, such magazines are even more valuable than the glossy ones you see in store for a general audience, as they reveal (textually and visually) what is new and trendy, which tools are the best and most exciting, and which jobs in the industry are best paid.
Better yet, they’re available in digital and printed versions, and there’s little chance you’ll miss them.
Here are the world’s most popular graphic design magazines to put on your list:
Wallpaper
Graphic design is a gorgeous visual art, and that’s best displayed by the magazines writing about it. Wallpaper, for instance, is such a well-designed magazine that you can’t stop looking at it. It takes your breath away!
Looks are not all there is to this paper – start reading, and you’ll discover tones of useful information. For starters, Wallpaper’s editors may inspire you to work on a new, modern design, or suggest ideas from places you’ve never visited.
The tone is simply innovative, and the topics go beyond graphic design – Yup, Wallpaper writes also on traveling, lifestyle, fashion, art, love, and many related fields.
3×3: The Magazine of Contemporary Illustration
If illustration is your thing, look no further – 3×3 is your magazine! Aside from its breathtaking design and production value, this magazine doesn’t try to impose visual aesthetics. Instead, they’re inspiring people to give their best, and they pick the best illustration every year.
Communication Arts
Visual communication professionals rate Communication Arts as the best trade journal. It is a leading source of inspiration for corporate design departments, creative agencies, advertisers, illustrators, freelance photographers, or in short – everyone with an interest in visual communication.
What makes Communication Arts so special? Their rich editorials feature informative articles and creative publications, helping professionals gather the ideas they need. They also organize annual competitions for talented teams, and promote the highest standards in this field.
Ever since 1959, Communication Arts has combined in-depth profiles and informative columns on leading design issues in all of their juried Annuals. This is what makes them the premier publication for everyone interested in this field.
Digital Arts
Digital Arts is a UK publication for creative workers that can be ordered online or in print. Their content is meaningful and forward-thinking, always keeping readers in line with advancements within the digital media markets. Many of their features are exclusive in the field, which explains why they have so many subscribers.
And yet, Digital Arts is celebrating only its 5th anniversary. During this period, the magazine maintained very professional readership, and gained exclusive rights on many professional reviews.
What readers like the most about them is that their information is product-based and unbiased, regardless of the discipline they’re featuring. When it comes to Digital Arts, quality matters more than marketing!
This magazine should also be your primary source for product reviews, as the company runs its own lab facility to test gadgets and gather top-class information. IDG’s global network provides them access to the best-informed sources in the field, which leaves us no other choice but to trust them.
Computer Arts
If interested to create digital art, look no further than Computer Arts. They provide on-point professional advice for amateurs and professionals, and cover all computer-based photo manipulating programs to teach readers on creating vector illustrations. If not sure how to work with Photoshop or Illustrator, this best-selling computer artist magazine deserves a place on your desk!
They also feature a section on web and typography design, and publish articles on motion graphics, 3D, and multimedia. Basically, there is no area they don’t specialize in!
Eye
If computer art magazines are your thing, you should also consider Eye. The best way to define Eye is as the international observer of developments in the graphic design world. The magazine specializes in all branches of visual culture, with beautiful collections of modern graphic designs that can inspire anyone interested in the topic.
The magazine is issued once every three months, and has been on the market since 1990. Their audience is, as they like to put it, creative enthusiasts looking for some proof-backed insights. They write on a number of very specific topics, such as book design, information design, branding design, typography, and media.
You can get your copy in any specialized bookstore in the UK, or order it online regardless of your location. Each issue is promoted with a Vimeo video (Eye before you buy) where you can check the content in advance.
Slanted
Lars Harmsen and Julia Kahl established Slanted Publishers only in 2014, and became the proud owners of Slanted magazine. The paper covers all relevant topics in international design, including news, event guides, and interviews with professionals.
Meanwhile, you can follow their blog for daily updates, and even schedule a video meeting with over 100 entrepreneurs from the design world.
Juxtapoz
Juxtapoz exists since 1994, as the pilot project of few passionate art creators such as Fausto Vitello, Robert Williams, Greg Escalante, Craig Stecyk, and Eric Swenson. Their idea was to celebrate contemporary and urban art with the large audiences, and they succeeded in it. Thousands of readers and magazine designers turn to this unique digital arts mag to seek inspiration!
What is specific about this magazine is how it connects seemingly uncontestable modern genres, as for instance street art with hot rod art, or psychedelic illustrations and graffiti.
An even bigger achievement is making these genres blend perfectly into their historically recognized counterparts, as for instance conceptual art, master painting, or pop. What they’re looking for (and what they’re providing!) is uniqueness.
IX Interactions
ACM’s IX Interactions mirrors the complex relations between humans and computers, and does so from the design community’s perspective. It features conversations, discoveries, collaborations, and technology innovations; and specializes into human-computer interactions research that could help practitioners do a better job.
The magazine is issued by the Association for Computer Machinery, world’s biggest scientific and educational computing society. You can get a new IX Interactions issue twice per month.
Graphic
Graphic was published for the first time in 2007, and is nowadays Korea’s most popular graphic design magazine. The first 8 issues were written only in Korean, but due to the popularity of the magazine, the 9th edition got its English version. You can buy this magazine on multiple locations in Korea and Europe, while the company plans expending its market reach towards the USA.
Graphic is a creative arts magazine that aims to be innovative, and writes on all major graphic design achievements. You will also find it describing the characteristics of alternative art and creative phenomena, with all details that make a magazine a true source of expertise.
The publication is unbiased and independent, and issued without financial assistance from sponsor and governmental agencies. This placed it directly in the quality journalism category, and speaks just enough on its emancipated and well-prepared editorial team.
NOVUM
How about a German graphic design magazine? NOVUM – World of Graphic Design Features is a premium magazine that specializes in contemporary graphic design. Much of its monthly content is devoted to corporate and business design, photography, and illustration; while editors also make serious efforts to look for new talents in the industry.
Issued in Germany for over 90 years, this bilingual magazine certainly deserves the attention of every designer or advertiser.
With each number of NOVUM you buy, you get a plus-issue called Plus, and which specializes in a different design area every month. For instance, you could read more on print design, typography design, logo design, and so on.
In short, there is no topic NOVUM’s tech team didn’t cover, which makes each issue worth of keeping. Their sources of information are trustworthy and relevant, and so are the experts preparing them.
KOMMA-MAGAZINE
Komma is a graphic design magazine with an interesting came-to-be story. It was launched at the Faculty of Design at Mannheim’s University of Applied Sciences, practically prepared, published, and even edited by students themselves.
As the reader, you can enjoy the perspective of multiple writers and designers – Komma always brings up fresh and relevant content, and provides extremely high-quality content on up-to-date themes. There’s also where future designers can have their Bachelor/Master theses published, which makes it a pretty good source of design theory.
Unlike most visual magazines, Komma is a free community project. You can subscribe on their mailing list to get a copy as soon as the new issue is out. Note – you will be surprised how many popular designers, artists, and creative agencies are following their work!
A NEW TYPE OF IMPRINT
A New Type of Imprint is more of a creative project than a magazine. The team aims to curate creative culture using graphic design, a brilliant idea that celebrates the true core of Norwegian art.
The magazine is published since 2014 by an Oslo-based agency called Anti. The agency offers a printed and a web version of the magazine, as well as consulting, curating, and production services for interested collaborators.
HOLO
Holo offers over 200 pages of pure design delight. You can check the profiles and stories of the most popular designers, creative artists, and practitioners worldwide, or read the art-and-design analyses of prominent experts in this field. Holo’s long-form journalism is paired with detailed follow-up of relevant trends and paradigms, and accordingly decorated with premium photographs.
The agency behind it is Creative Applications Network which does a great job mixing the emerging trajectories in technology, science, and contemporary art. The magazine is issued twice a year, and offers great designing and prototyping features that could inspire any artist.
IDEA
IDEA was first issued in Tokyo in 1953. Nowadays, it offers us some of the best design perspectives of Japan, and we get to enjoy it 4 times per year. Therefore, it deserves a place among the best graphic design magazines of all times.
What makes IDEA magazine one of the best pieces issued in this field is the focus on visual communication. Editors bring on board serious issues from the design world, and gather materials to help graphic and typography designers get inspired. All content is translated into English, and the magazine is available all around the world.
Ending thoughts on these graphic design magazines
In this article, we’ve discussed some of the best graphic design magazines you should subscribe for. Of course, this list is far from complete, and we’d love further recommendations by your side!
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Bogdan Sandu, a seasoned designer with 15 years of diverse experience, has been designing websites since 2008.
Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.
His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.
Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.
His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.
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