As early as 2009, the public opinion on starting your own print magazine was already very shallow. The Internet, and Mobile access to the web had already been long underway, and the population at large much prefered to read news online for free. That has changed drastically in the recent couple of years, even more of the population is connected now, and sources for news have increased several hundred, if not thousandfold. The process of going from an idea to a print-ready magazine is daunting, and can prove to be a very tough learning process. Not only you have to deal with publishers, promoters, and by the time that is done; customers, you also have to keep a steady flow of ideas coming, and manage a team that can take care of all the aspects that go into a magazine.
A print magazine is also one of those business ventures that requires a huge starting capital to get off the ground, which in itself is actually a risk that one must take, if he really believes in his capability to start a magazine that would eventually turn profit, though once it turns profitable, there’s usually nothing that can stop it — as readers and loyal subscribers will want to read more of what you have to offer. Testing preview versions with tight groups of people is only the beginning process of actually producing a pilot issue that could better determine the angle to take with your newfound idea. Doing everything by yourself isn’t an option either, several aspects of the magazine will require people with special talents and skills, so that’s something to ponder about too.
You will want to start by investigating your potential audience, learning as much about them as possible, so you have a better idea of who you are talking to, and in what jargon / style. Design of the magazine should be done by a graphic designer (such as any of the graphic designers that we will learn about in this digest of best free magazine mockups and templates), and if you don’t have one on your team — hire one. Then you have to decide on the printing company you are going to use, don’t settle for the first agency you meet — go out for meetings with several and discuss the best possible price for what you need. Don’t forget that you should also create an online-ready version of your magazine, which also serves as a platform for attracting physical magazine subscribers.
In the case of wanting to start a local community / grassroots magazine, it is completely possible, and many do so with great success — the magazine mockups today will reflect both community oriented magazines, but also magazines that are of quality that Salon, Entrepreneur, and others are bringing to the table. We will cover the best of the best, with some additional insights as to what we feel would be the ideal case for each mockup to be used in. Please join us in commenting and leaving feedback about these mockups, and whether you are finding what you are looking for, otherwise we might be able to help in finding other solutions and alternatives.
A4 Magazine Mockup for Magazine Concepts
With thousands of likes from the Behance community, and many more thousand free downloads, Jan-Alfred Barclay has built a standard for what magazine mockups should look like when built with care, and efficiency in mind. His A4 Magazine Mockup is a PSD download that contains several page concepts of what your potential magazine could look like, with a carefully layered pattern structure that allows you to copy and paste designs directly onto new pages. Each template features a layer structure that allows to create photorealistic end results for all your page designs. Combine images over pages, or create stunning feature pages for important stories and editorial content.
Thousands of likes sounded promising, but Alexandre Cardoso has much more than that, his 4K Magazine template has tens of thousands of likes, with hundreds of thousands of free downloads. Creating a good looking magazine mockup or template takes some serious time, it requires patience and understanding of how each element of a magazine page comes together to achieve the end result of a magazine style. Alexandre Cardoso has nailed it with his mockup that he is giving away to the community for free. All three of the templates use Smart Objects that enable anyone to quickly change and adapt the templates to their own needs at any given time. You will enjoy using this magazine for projects where text positioning and text design is of utmost importance.
Isometric view will add all the necessary flavor to your journal and/or magazine that will WOW your readers from the moment they start reading it. Mats-Peter Forss continues to outdo himself by sharing this wonderful mockups that can be quickly transformed into fully functional magazine designs. It’s all built with his own hands, using his own equipment, but he still remembers to provide Smart Objects, layered elements, and general advice on how to best take advantage of this mockup. The files are of high-quality, allowing you to print the magazine in whichever format
