Magazine Designer And Production Manager
Career review from a person working in the job
How I Got The Job
My Education: BA, Journalism
My Prior Experience: I was a designer/editor/writer at a mid-sized daily newspaper and then a copy editor and editor for a website that focused on immigration issues.
My Job Profile
My Company: My company is a sports publishing company that publishes several magazine for and about NCAA colleges and universities.
Job/Career Overview: Generally, it's my job to design our magazine from start to finish. I have created the design for all of our magazines. On a day-to-day basis, I choose and prepare photos, format text and make the publications attractive and easy to read. I work with the editors to make everything fit and present the information in the best possible manner.
Once the editors have approved all of the text, I create digital files (PDFs) and send them to our printer according to their specifications.
I also design advertisements for our magazines (by us and by outside advertisers) and help create marketing materials.
More Insights: Have a plan for where you want to go. If you want to start your own publishing company one day, pick the brains of those around you who hold different jobs that you're unfamiliar with.
Love It? Hate It?
I rate this career 7 out of 10.
What I Love or Hate
The best thing about my job is getting to work in sports publishing while retaining a normal 8AM to 5PM schedule. When I worked in the sports department of a daily newspaper, I worked late into the night and didn't have much of a life outside of work. This schedule is much better for someone who now has a family and small children,
The worst part is I no longer get to do the writing and editing I used to do at my previous jobs. While I still get to do some of that, I don't do nearly as much and I miss it.
My Career Tips
1. Make yourself familiar with all aspects of the business: finances, editing, writing, design and the relevant software.
2. The job requires you to work closely with people who have different agendas. Writers, for example, don't want their stories cut down so you can run a larger photo or make a page more visually appealing. You need to know how to pick your battles and be persuasive and easy to work with.
3. Publishing is a pressure-packed, deadline-driven business. You need to focus on handling the pressure at work and learn how to let it go as you walk out the door each day.
