There's an interesting magazine spread reproduced on page sixty of this fascinating book, it arrows only the typographic items like: folio, headlines, byline, body copy, credits, running heads, panel/sidebar copy, intro/second deck text, stand-first, pull quotes, captions/cutlines. Not arrowed are photos, illustrations, cartoons, graphics and other visual elements. I thought it was interesting because it sort of sums up the many items that publication designers work with all the time. Publications seem separate from other areas of print communication because of their regular appearance and they have a dedicated staff handling words and images. Because of this team effort it is not really practical to teach the subject in design college. The best learning curve is to join the editorial department of a title.
The book is essentially concerned with the look of publications and I thought it was impressively thorough in its coverage. Most of the illustration spreads feature magazines but newspapers are considered as well, including their supplements. The five chapters really do cover everything you'll see in a weekly or monthly, explained by text and comprehensive captions. The pages are broken up by some interesting magazine profiles and some dummy pages to further explain editorial concepts: how grids shape design, changing impact with headlines and photos. The back pages feature work from well known magazine designers from the last few decades, a glossary and index.
The book's production is as impressive as the contents, printed on glossy paper in 200 screen with a layout that is easy to follow considering the large amount of information. If I have a criticism it is that most of the illustrations come from publications that are aimed at a design receptive readership. It would have been useful, I think, to have included some publications where design is not so obvious: down-market celebrity magazines or titles for children (like the brilliant Sesame Street Magazine) or trade weeklies. All these need designers to be just as creative as those on many of the titles that have spreads in 'Editorial design'
I think it's worth pointing out that this is not a 'how to do magazine layouts' book but a detailed look at the nuts and bolts of what makes up the visual side of a publications editorial.
