There are thousands of ways to design a minimalist magazine cover. In this article, I'll give you a few tips on how to design a minimalist magazine and show you some awesome design inspiration.
Designing aesthetic magazine covers takes a keen eye and taste. In this article, I'll give you a few tips on designing minimalist magazine covers that are creative and the opposite of boring. Minimalist magazine layout designs are great for concentrating on the content, but they also have to look good. You'll also learn how to design a minimalist design cover in InDesign, and I'll show you some awesome inspiration to help you explore outside the box.
If you're short on time, be sure to check out Envato Elements and explore their minimalist magazine cover designs or amazing magazine cover background images. With a small monthly fee, you have access to high-quality assets that can help you elevate your next projects. Be sure to check it out!
Tips on How to Create a Minimalist Magazine Cover
Some say that designing anything with a minimalist style takes more work than the opposite. There are only a few elements on a minimalist magazine cover, but thousands of ways in which they can be arranged. Here are a few tips for designing aesthetic magazine covers:
- Striking Magazine Cover Background: To avoid a minimalist cover layout looking empty, it's important to choose an image that is interesting and striking. Minimalist cover designs let the images communicate everything, so be sure to look for images that are colorful, have interesting perspectives, and go to an extreme in styles.
- Use a Grid: a good aesthetic magazine cover starts with a grid. This is a powerful tool to organize a layout in a way that isn't messy or senseless. A grid helps place elements to create a cohesive layout and order.
- Keep Elements to a Minimum: minimalist magazine cover designs don't include many elements. Are there elements that you can live without on a design cover? The less clutter, the better.
- Make Typography Interesting: designing a minimalist cover layout doesn't have to be boring. It really depends on how you can spice things up to make the cover interesting. Choose typography that isn't plain—fonts that have glyphs, options, and alternates can help create an eye-catching layout.
- Think of Colors: minimalist cover designs feature mainly white space, but that's not to say that it should only be white. Try to venture into different punchy colors!
- Edit, Edit, Edit: once you have finished your design, see if there's any element that doesn't belong or can be omitted from the minimalist design cover. Editing one's own work is essential to be sure we're presenting the very best of our designs.
What You'll Learn
In this minimalist magazine cover design tutorial, you'll learn:
- How to set up an InDesign magazine file
- How to organize layers and set up essential elements like grids
- How to edit an image through InDesign and Photoshop
- How to add columns to a text frame
- How to export a file for print
What You'll Need
For this tutorial, you'll need access to Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. You'll also need the following assets:
- Asian Fashion Girl image from Envato Elements
- Blink Twice font
- Ezra Modern Sans font
Download the image and be sure to install the font on your computer.
1. How to Set Up an InDesign File for a Minimalist Magazine Cover Design
Step 1
Create a New Document in Adobe InDesign.
Select the A4 Size and set the Orientation to Portrait. Set all the Margins to 12.7 mm. Click Create.
Step 2
Go to Layout > Create Guide.
In the pop-up window, set the Rows to 6 and the Columns to 3. Select the Fit Guides option to Margins. Click OK.
Step 3
In the Layers panel, double-click on Layer 1 and change the name to Background.
Add a New Layer and set the Name to Images. Repeat this step and set the New Layer Name to Text.
2. How to Design a Minimalist Cover Design
Step 1
Lock the Background and Text layers. Select the Images layer.
Drop in the Asian Fashion Girl to the InDesign document.
Step 2
Resize the magazine cover background image frame to fit the inside the bottom, left, and right margins.
In the Properties panel, set the Height to 220mm.
Step 3
To create an impactful image, we'll transform it into a black and white photo. Select the image and right-click. Select Edit With > Adobe Photoshop.
In the Layers panel, click on Add a New Fill or Adjustment Layer > Black and White.
Click again on Add a New Fill or Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast. Set the Brightness to 20 and the Contrast to 25.
Save the image as a PSD file by going to File > Save As.
Place the image anywhere on your computer that's easier to find and drop it in the image frame in Adobe InDesign.
Step 4
In Adobe InDesign, select the Direct Selection Tool (A).
Select the image and go to the Properties panel. Set the Width to 230mm and the Height to 345 mm. Set the X to 92mm and the Y to 60mm.
In the Layers panel, lock the Images layer and unlock the Text layer.
Step 5
Select the Text Tool (T) and create a text box on the top-right corner of the aesthetic magazine cover.
Type the name of the magazine Asta in caps and on two lines. Set the Font to Blink Twice, set the Size to 117pt, and the Leading to 104pt.
If you want to explore the different alternates for the font, go to Window > Type and Tables > Glyphs. There, you can explore the different alternates for each character and choose one to your liking.
Step 6
Now let's add some other cover design details. We'll add a magazine issue dateline and deck.
Using the Text Tool (T), create a text frame on columns 2 and 3, next to the magazine name.
For the deck, add: A JOURNAL FOR FASHIONABLE WOMEN.
For the dateline, add: SUMMER, JULY 2022.
Set the Font to Ezra Extra Bold, the Size to 8pt, and the Tracking to 200.
Step 7
Create another text frame using the Text Tool (T).
While selecting the frame, press Command-B to open the Text Frame Options. Set the Number of Columns to 3, Gutter to 7mm, and the Width to 68.933 mm.
Click OK.
Step 8
Let's add some coverlines. Select the text frame, go to the Control Panel, and set the Rotation Angle to 90°.
Place the text frame on the right margin. Set the Font to Ezra Medium, and set the Size to 9 pt and the Tracking to 25.
Select the Line Tool (\) from the toolbar. Create 10 mm lines to fit between the gutter of the text columns. On the Control Panel, set the Stroke to 0.75pt.
3. How to Export a Minimalist Cover Design
Step 1
To export your minimalist cover design for print, go to File > Export. In the pop-up window, set the Name and place your file anywhere that's easy to find on your computer.
Click Save.
Step 2
In the Export PDF pop-up window, be sure to set the Adobe PDF Preset to High Quality Print.
Click Export.
Minimalist Magazine Cover Design Examples From Envato Elements
Now you know how to design aesthetic magazine covers. Next up, we'll explore some minimalist magazine layouts from Envato Elements. These minimalist magazine templates are ready to use, so make sure to take a look at these options if you want to save some time!
Matamu (INDD)
This minimalist magazine layout is clean and simple. This is perfect if the image you're using has size limitations or if you have a square image. The deck lines are divided into three columns, so this whole aesthetic magazine cover is based on a grid.
Creative Magazine Cover Template (INDD, PSD)
This magazine cover features an interesting play on the elements. The deck lines are placed next to the gutter. The use of a thin sans serif for the magazine name helps keep an airy top to a somewhat heavier bottom.
Albouze (INDD)
If you're looking for an image-driven, minimalist cover design, this is it. This magazine cover background is impactful, and that's the reason to keep the elements to a minimum. The size of the magazine name is bigger than usual, but it counteracts the few elements included. It also features a beautiful and stylish serif font that helps establish a personality.
Minimalistic Magazine Set
Establish order with a strong use of grids. This minimalist magazine cover features a three by three grid. The deck lines give that away, while the magazine deck is kept centered. The season and issue number balance everything else by being placed at each of the top corners. This image is dark enough to keep the deck lines white.
Minimalist Magazine Cover Design
This minimalist magazine cover features multiple narrow columns. While the top magazine description uses three narrow columns, the bottom has two super-wide columns for deck lines. This type of magazine, with the two long deck lines, implies long-form content on the inside layout.
That's It!
In this article, I gave you some awesome ideas on how to get started designing your own aesthetic magazine cover. Along the way, you learned some tips and elements to consider to create an awesome design. We also featured examples that show you the many possibilities to design interesting minimalist cover designs.
Envato Elements is a great resource to find minimalist magazine layout inspiration—or if you're in a rush, minimalist magazine covers for your projects. Be sure to check out their ever-evolving library!
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