Magazine Staff from 16 countries Attend Design Conference in Prague
From Sri Lanka to Canada, Brazil to Malaysia, and India to Belarus, 55 staff members of 29 magazines in 16 countries descended on the Hotel Jeneralka in Prague, Czech Republic, from June 3-6, 2008, for the Design for Magazines conference hosted by Magazine Training International (MTI).
“I was really blessed to be able to attend and receive so much information in such a short time,” said Emilia Ceuta, an editor from Lumina Evangheliei in Romania. “I regret that I did not attend other conferences before.”
The four-day intensive course featured 12 sessions on magazine design with award-winning trainers Gary Gnidovic, art director of Christianity Today, International; Greg Breeding, creative director at Journey Communications; and Adele Mulford, art director of Discipleship Journal. The instructors illustrated their teaching with more than 1,000 visuals. A 100-page manual packed with charts and valuable information and published in five languages served as an additional resource for the designers and editors who attended the course.
“It was the first time I went to this type of conference, and I feel so honored to have teachers from very famous organizations,” said Catalina Butincu, editor of L’altitudini magazine in Romania. “I received a lot of the theoretical and practical information, and I can’t wait to put it into practice at home…. I believe that this is an investment for a long time, and you will see the results in the next few years, especially in Chrisian publishers from Romania.”
The Design for Magazines conference, MTI’s 54th publishing conference, was the second conference recorded for DVD production. Last year, MTI filmed the Business of Magazine Publishing conference in Los Angeles for the production of a seven-disc DVD course. Both DVD courses will be available with subtitles in Russian, Spanish and Chinese (both simplified and traditional scripts) and will be offered with a 100-page manual in PDF format.
“We expect the DVD course will make it possible for even inexperienced designers to offer the course anywhere in the world,” MTI President Sharon Mumper said. “Or, magazines may use the course to train staff. It will make it possible for us to deliver these valuable resources much more widely.”
“I was trained professionally 12 years ago and have worked as a designer since then, but this course really refreshed me,” one participant said. “It was really encouraging to hear more about our profession from such well-known art directors. It gives us such confidence.”
Seminar topics included design elements, words and images, magazine architecture, visual identity, typography, design on a modest budget, photography, the relationship between editors and designers, magazine covers, and redesign.
“The examples were fantastic,” said Alina Gozman, the designer for L’altitudini. “I love seeing and hearing the explanation (of) all the covers and pages from real magazines. The visual part of the training is very powerful, and I was very inspired by it. My imagination was stretched.”
The location of the conference attracted many editors and designers from eastern Europe, but participants from Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India were also able to attend. One publisher based in France is even launching a magazine for youth in Africa. Since moving its headquarters from Austria to Colorado Springs in 2007, MTI has focused on reaching more publishers from around the world.
“To me, this conference is very helpful in the work I am now doing,” a participant from Asia said. “I do wish that more people were attending the conference to gain knowledge from the speakers, especially those from other areas in Asia, so the quality of the publication will be improved and glorify the name of the Lord.”
“That is the advantage of a DVD course,” Mumper said. “It can go to places where we, with our small organization, are not able to offer a ‘live’ course."
“I was really blessed to be able to attend and receive so much information in such a short time,” said Emilia Ceuta, an editor from Lumina Evangheliei in Romania. “I regret that I did not attend other conferences before.”
The four-day intensive course featured 12 sessions on magazine design with award-winning trainers Gary Gnidovic, art director of Christianity Today, International; Greg Breeding, creative director at Journey Communications; and Adele Mulford, art director of Discipleship Journal. The instructors illustrated their teaching with more than 1,000 visuals. A 100-page manual packed with charts and valuable information and published in five languages served as an additional resource for the designers and editors who attended the course.
“It was the first time I went to this type of conference, and I feel so honored to have teachers from very famous organizations,” said Catalina Butincu, editor of L’altitudini magazine in Romania. “I received a lot of the theoretical and practical information, and I can’t wait to put it into practice at home…. I believe that this is an investment for a long time, and you will see the results in the next few years, especially in Chrisian publishers from Romania.”
The Design for Magazines conference, MTI’s 54th publishing conference, was the second conference recorded for DVD production. Last year, MTI filmed the Business of Magazine Publishing conference in Los Angeles for the production of a seven-disc DVD course. Both DVD courses will be available with subtitles in Russian, Spanish and Chinese (both simplified and traditional scripts) and will be offered with a 100-page manual in PDF format.
“We expect the DVD course will make it possible for even inexperienced designers to offer the course anywhere in the world,” MTI President Sharon Mumper said. “Or, magazines may use the course to train staff. It will make it possible for us to deliver these valuable resources much more widely.”
“I was trained professionally 12 years ago and have worked as a designer since then, but this course really refreshed me,” one participant said. “It was really encouraging to hear more about our profession from such well-known art directors. It gives us such confidence.”
Seminar topics included design elements, words and images, magazine architecture, visual identity, typography, design on a modest budget, photography, the relationship between editors and designers, magazine covers, and redesign.
“The examples were fantastic,” said Alina Gozman, the designer for L’altitudini. “I love seeing and hearing the explanation (of) all the covers and pages from real magazines. The visual part of the training is very powerful, and I was very inspired by it. My imagination was stretched.”
The location of the conference attracted many editors and designers from eastern Europe, but participants from Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India were also able to attend. One publisher based in France is even launching a magazine for youth in Africa. Since moving its headquarters from Austria to Colorado Springs in 2007, MTI has focused on reaching more publishers from around the world.
“To me, this conference is very helpful in the work I am now doing,” a participant from Asia said. “I do wish that more people were attending the conference to gain knowledge from the speakers, especially those from other areas in Asia, so the quality of the publication will be improved and glorify the name of the Lord.”
“That is the advantage of a DVD course,” Mumper said. “It can go to places where we, with our small organization, are not able to offer a ‘live’ course."
