What is Editorial and publication design research

Editorial Design, Yolanda Zappaterra 

100 Habits of Successful Publication Designers, Laurel Saville

CHAPTER 1: Understanding Publications 

• Publications are driven by the content - words, words, words.
• Audience of publications is the readers, so the designers must design with the words in mind.
• Ina Saltz (pg 16): "Being a magazine art director is all about enhancing the content and becoming a visual journalist."
• The content is used as inspiration to create and improve the design 
• Publication designers have to defer to content (it is the most important element

CHAPTER 5: Where Are Magazines Headed?

• masses of information from the web is adsorbed by readers, and therefore the ways of reading and taking in information from publications on interactive design are being adopted in print design. 
• Jeremy Leslie (p 175): "bite size chunk[s] of information getting smaller and smaller"
• Marcus Piper (p 175): "Internet has changed the way people interact with things, their attention spans"
• Arthur Hochstein: "For a while, print was trying to emulate the Internet, and now there's backlash… print is print and electronics is electronics" 
• ONE opinion = negative, print sales down on newspapers... There are fewer magazine launches occurring now more than ever because investors don't want to put money into an area that is declining and carries more risks. (Grim Reaper, Magazine Death Pool. p.182)
• OTHER opinion = If the web and print editorial and publishing designs work cohesively then they can support one another. Fast information from the web while magazines can now focus on design. The rise of competition from the web also forces designers and magazines to be better (p175 Arthur Hochstein). The internet allows designers who could previously not afford to produce magazines to create work online. 
• Jeremy Leslie (p 180): "There's an audience out there that are hungry to buy international magazines that are cool"
  

Mini practise at writing/Understanding what it is on a basic level from my notes

Editorial and publication design is a form of visual journalism in which the presentation of the visual elements is central in communicating the idea in the piece. It has a variety of functions, such as a clear structure, a strong aesthetic and the ability to attract readers and sustain reader loyalty, and a successful piece of editorial and publication design will have these functions working cohesively together.