>>I've been in the design industry for 13 years and I've been searching for a really great magazine for designers, to no avail. I've found a couple that are Ok but they are so packed full of advertisements, the content seems to be just filler. The articles seem to lack focus and real detail. I can't find anything that really teaches me anything.<<

What kind of detail are you talking about? And what magazines did you look at? I can't believe you could look at HOW or Applied Arts, or Print, or Design or any number of other journals and NOT find 'anything'. The ads never bother me -- most of them are very relevant to design work, sometimes it's the only way I have of keeping up with new technologies, paper stocks, etc.

>>I've been in the magazine business for quite a few years and I am considering starting a digital magazine for designers. My goal is to pack each issue full of rich, useful content (tips, tricks, new technology, sound business advice, how-to guides ... etc) and have NO ADS!<<

What kind of mags did you work in, and what was your job? Seems to me if you're willing drop advertisers, you couldn't have been in sales. Did you design mags?

>>Anyone that knows the magazine business knows, advertising is where the money is, so I will have to charge a premium fee for distribution. But, I think there are many designers out there willing to pay a fee for great content, no ads and an opportunity to showcase their work.<<

Premium? I receive some great magazines with great content FREE where I am because I am a designer. I wish you could give us a sample of what kind of article you're planning to publish here so we could compare it to some of the competition. Personally, as soon as I read 'premium fee' and 'opportunity to showcase your art' in the same issue, my scam filter subsystem went into alert mode. Why would you want to pay a premium to showcase your work to um... other designers?

>>To keep the subscription cost low (and save a few trees), I'm planning to offer a bi-monthly digital distribution model (delivered to an e-mail address) and two annual competitions for designers to showcase their work (with no registration or entrance fees), with a brief newsletter in between.<<

Code YELLOW

>>I have already secured a national distribution agreement for a print version, if I decide to go that route in the future.<<

What's that supposed to mean? Legitimacy? What do you mean by 'secured'? A distributor told you if you could afford the print/distribution costs he would do it? Heck, anyone can do that.

AMBER. Spec detection sub-system on standby.

>>My questions:
1.) Is this something the design community is interested in?<<

Apparently: http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/

>>2.) How many designers out there are passionate about design, but have a hard time figuring out the business behind the art?<<

(Designers create art now too?)

>>3.) Since there are no ads and design competition admittance is offered to all subscribers at no additional charge, how much are designers willing to pay?<<

Depends on their answer to '2'.

>>Your input will help determine if this is a viable option for our community. I would appreciate any insight and comments.<<

What community is that, anyhow?

>>Thank you so much for your time and opionions.<<

My last opinion:

Broacher free tip no. 1: If you want to come across as a professional magazine promoter, learn to use your spellchecker.

I agree with Broacher. The ads don't bother me at all. Actually, I like them because they're very specific to the industry and allows me to see what is out there.

As an added bonus, it helps keep subscription costs down.

Broacher got all my points and then some.
I get all my trade mags free too cuz of where I work

^me too, or damn dirty cheap.

I still smell something besides my post-burrito after-effects.

Starting a magazine is far more difficult than you're anticipating. Hopefully you are independently wealthy.

And people won't pay money for an ezine, at least one w/o decades of street cred (See: NYT, Adobe, etc).

In publications, the entirety of the $$ is in advertising. Cover prices and subscription fees cover freight expense and lend credibility -- anything after that offsets production. Advertising revenue is attained by acheiving a decent circulation to a specific demographic. Your best bet is to start out distributing this thing electronically for free, build up cred, and advertising accordingly.

Wow! Thanks for the comments.

This post was not intended to offend anyone. I've been working in the magazine business for the past 5 years, as creative director for a nationally published business magazine then as managing editor / design director for a national women's magazine. I also own an award-winning design and marketing firm that caters to mid-level corporations.

I've seen first-hand how advertising impacts editorial and I know how "free" magazines work. They are basically a tool to get an advertisers message in front of you. The more free subscribers, the more the publisher charges the advertiser for advertising. It's basically direct-mail marketing.

The current trends toward online advertising are hurting the magazine and newspaper industries (next time your at the newsstand you will notice a lot of popular magazines are now using a lesser paper weight and most are printing less pages). The push for digital publication is upon us.

I've been playing around with an idea for launching a straight-to-the-point, nuts-and-bolts design magazine because "I" don't feel like the current selections offer much. (My opinion.) I could provide a free magazine or a low-priced subscriber option, but I don't want to play that game.

Most importantly, I don't want to waste my time and money to try to launch a product that is not wanted by the community.

So, thank you very much for your opinions and input. They are much appreciated.