Hello guys?

Have you ever had to churn out a magazine in 28hrs before and how did it look?

It all depends on the size of the magazine. Why did you ask?

Yep. Turned out great.

1 Like

It’s taken me more than 28 hours to negotiate with the photographer just for the OFC shot.

No. I’ve designed and built plenty of magazines and used to be the design director for two monthly magazines.

Unless there’s a straightforward, pre-made formula with all the pieces available and it’s just a matter of flowing in copy and adding photos, 28 hours isn’t enough time.

I wouldn’t work 28 straight hours on anything. Dividing up the 28 hours over three days would be more doable, but I’d turn down a job rush job like this.

There are rare occasions when these kinds of rush jobs are understandable. However, in most cases, they reflect a lack of planning by the publisher, which always spells trouble.

i have this magazine i design every weekend for my employer and it always comes late on thursday and fridays and i am to be done before 5:30 Saturday, it stresses me out and is beginning to mess with my esteem, i hardly have time to pay attention to details or think of concepts, it is usually a 32 page magazine. Yesterday it came late as 6am and should be out 5:30am, the editor of the magazine kept harrassing with calls early this morning, it out to be the anniversary edition. the time i would spend looking for images, working on these images, little aesthethics here and there, the cover, i just got really mad, wanted to know if i am right to be mad.

I’ve done stuff like that in my younger days, but it wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t healthy for me. I can’t imagine doing that week after week. Not a realistic expectation for one person.

I would suggest to the publisher that they are understaffed, and they should consider contracting with 2 freelancers to help you out on Fridays.

1 Like

Do you have options, like finding another job (or jobs)? A routine like you described would be intolerable for me, and from your description, it’s not healthy for you either.

As I mentioned above, I’ve worked at magazines, so I know the importance of getting things done according to a reasonable schedule and sticking to it.

I also worked at a daily newspaper where, each day, we published over a hundred pages of new content. This might seem more stressful than a monthly magazine but it wasn’t. The reason is that everything in the newspaper happened on a schedule that had been fine-tuned over many years with the ideal number of people assigned to each task. Each step in the daily publication involved tight deadlines (literally minute-by-minute) that were never missed.

Newspapers are put together using formulas — the reporting, the writing, the copy editing, the pagination, everything. Magazines tend to be a bit looser, more chaotic, and to an extent, made up during the process.

What I’m getting at is there are ways to produce publications on very tight deadlines, but the system needs to be set up in a way that accommodates those deadlines. The situation you’ve described is dysfunctional and unsustainable. I don’t know the kind of magazine you’re putting together but as the last person in line, you’re bearing the brunt of everyone else’s inability to meet their deadlines. It sounds as though they think their schedule is normal and that you should just be able to deal with it. It also sounds like they’re amateurs who don’t know the importance of sticking to deadlines when publishing a periodical.

If I were you, I’d be making plans to quit. In the meantime, I’d be figuring out ways to make recommendations to the editors and publisher to fix the situation. It’s likely they won’t listen, but at least it means you’re doing something while you’re looking for other work instead of just putting up with it as a victim of their incompetence.

1 Like

One of my biggest regrets is not standing up against demand like this.

Nowadays I walk away.
I was terrified the first time I did it. But it was refreshing. There’s more to life and work.

Either demand change and if it doesn’t happen walk away.

It’s very freeing and terrifying.

Once you realize you’re in control it’s fantastic.

1 Like

just what i needed

Sounds to me like your employer doesn’t give a $%&# what the magazine looks like.

1 Like

Or the employee’s wellbeing.

Oh jaysus yes. Looked great. Used to put together a 64 page newspaper in 12.