Editorial & Print
Editorial design is the slowest and at the same time most consistent design discipline. A brochure reads in 15 minutes, a magazine in two hours, an annual report often over months in fragments. Taking editorial design seriously means building not a beautiful first spread but a system that carries the next 80 pages and the next issue. Print design therefore decides not over a single wow moment, but over whether content stays readable across distance and whether the brand is still recognisably itself when you turn the page. We design magazines, annual reports, brochures and books with an eye on grid, binding and press.
What editorial design actually does
A grid is not a constraint but a stage. It defines where images can breathe, where marginalia begin, how pagination and running heads carry orientation. We do not build grids from the textbook, we build them from the content: a magazine with long-form reportage needs different columns than an image brochure with photo spreads, or an annual report with finance chapters. We review the longest texts and most awkward tables before showing the first layout.
Type pairing carries the brand across the whole distance. Solid typography needs a reading serif for body, a strong display face for headlines and often a mono or display type for special functions. We look for combinations that stay readable at 9 points body, work at 48 points headline and do not fall apart in the contents page. That is more craft than taste, and it decides whether an editorial product still works after three years.
How we actually work
A typical editorial project starts with a content and scope analysis: how many pages, what text types, how much image material, which tables, which print requirements. From there we develop grid, type pairing and colour system, design two or three spreads as style routes, then decide the direction. For a sustainability report we account for GRI or ESRS requirements. For a brochure for a brand, the visual world comes from the existing identity. We support the press proof, check colour deviation and deliver print-ready data plus a web PDF.
A grid that thinks ahead
A good editorial grid carries the next twenty pages, the next issue and the third author. We build systems, not a single beautiful spread.
Typography as substance
Type pairing, micro-typography, pagination, marginalia. Editorial design lives on reading flow and hierarchy working over long distances.
Print-ready, not screen-only
Magazine design has to work at the printer. We plan Pantone, paper and binding from the start, not at the press proof.
Built for the audience
An annual report needs different arcs than an independent magazine. We design for the readership, not for the design trend.
Frequently asked
A brochure with 16 to 32 pages lands between €4,500 and €14,000. An annual report or magazine with 60 to 120 pages runs between €12,000 and €45,000 depending on complexity, image material and revision rounds. We clarify the scope after briefing.
A brochure up to 32 pages we manage in 5 to 8 weeks. A magazine or annual report with 80 to 120 pages needs 10 to 16 weeks including editing, image selection and at least two revision rounds. For fixed launch dates we plan the print deadline backwards.
For pure design we work with your text. If copy is missing or the editorial direction is still forming, we connect you with editors and copywriters we know or curate the text process with you. We do not take on pure copywriting mandates, but we do not design text in a vacuum either.
For magazines we like Munken Pure, Munken Lynx, matt coated stocks or Gmund papers. For annual reports we often use Smyth-sewn binding with hardcover, or perfect binding with a flapped cover. The decision follows brand and budget.
Yes. Editorial projects for brands, institutions and publishers in every region of Germany are part of the normal work. Briefings, editorial rounds and proofs run remote, press approvals can be planned on-site as needed.
Start a project?
Tell me briefly what it is about — in a 30-minute first conversation we clarify whether and how we can work together.