10 Digital Magazine Examples Illustrating the Power of Web Editorial

There will always be a place for print, but digital magazines have taken off due to their global accessibility and visual experiences informed by modern web design.

While print is a static medium of photos and text, digital magazines present stories with interactions, animations, audio, video, and other features that transcend what is possible on paper.

Let’s take a look at ten digital magazine examples that combine journalism with design in telling stories in new and visually engaging ways.

1. AIGA - Eye on Design

Along with being a professional organization that helps designers further their careers, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) also puts out the wonderful digital publication Eye on Design. It not only covers the history of design and current trends but also has articles that show how it intersects with areas like music, politics, and gender.

From its profile pieces on "Where Designers Work" to exploring specialized topics like 1970s New York party flyers and the graphic design of mid-century children's books, Eye on Design is filled with a great deal of design-centric articles that, whatever your interests, you'll find something informative and inspiring.

And of course, being an organization dedicated to design, Eye on Design has a clean and modern aesthetic. With headlines rendered in the simple and rounded letterforms of ChapeauMedium, and the body text in the more delicate and refined SuisseNeuLight, it strikes just the right contrast. With touches of warm pink, emerald green, purple, and pastels, it’s also full of creative color combinations. We’re huge fans of digital magazine examples like Eye on Design that put as much care into visuals as they do the writing.

2. Redbull - The Red Bulletin

With the clever name of The Red Bulletin, Red Bull’s digital magazine is a fantastic example of brand journalism done right. With essays, short films, and other content covering adrenaline-fueled sports like surfing, skateboarding, rock climbing, and mountain biking, it’s a powerful extension of Red Bull’s action sports beverage brand. So much of the storytelling is done through visuals, with brilliant photos, video clips, and creative uses of text that give it a sense of excitement and action.

If you’re looking for digital magazine examples that capture the essence of what makes a brand special, The Red Bulletin is well worth checking out.

3. California College of the Arts - Glance

Let’s shift the focus of our discussion about digital magazine examples over to higher education. Glance is the online magazine of the California College of the Arts (CCA). Built with Vev, you’ll encounter an artful layout of duotone photos, ribbons of color, and parallax effects that capture the college’s creative spirit.

CCA is well-regarded for its interdisciplinary studies, and Glance highlights the work of students as well as that of alumni in a variety of creative fields. This magazine does a great job of showing how CCA helps students develop their skills as artists, as well as preparing them for careers in the real world.

4. Aeon

Launched in 2012, Aeon is a digital magazine that explores science, philosophy, culture, and other facets of the human experience. We love seeing digital magazine examples that are dedicated to the art of journalism, and Aeon stands out with its deep and intellectual takes on the topics they cover.

On the homepage you’ll find the posts organized into three columns. While moving through the screen a hover-triggered animation shifts the colors of the cover photos. This animated effect works so well in keeping people’s attention as they move through and ensuring that they don’t get lost in the long scroll of articles.

5. Your Majesty

Your Majesty, a branding and creative agency, puts out a newsletter every week curating some of the most interesting articles, videos, and podcasts that talk about tech, design, and other aspects of creativity.

To celebrate its 300th issue they put together a digital archive that makes it easy to flip through all of its digital magazine examples. With its opening screen that stacks up all of its issues, scroll-triggered animations, and the gentle radius that bends the articles as you scroll by, it feels as inventive and imaginative as the content they curate.

6. Sport 2000 - Impulsion

Offering sporting goods like running shoes, shorts, and other exercise wear, Sport 2000’s digital magazine Impulsion fits right in with the products they sell. With well thought out articles about surfing, hiking, soccer, and other activities, accompanied by beautiful action shots it’s a great read. It’s always nice to see digital magazine examples that pull off content marketing in ways that feel authentic.

Along with its sports writing, Impulsion is also a brilliant visual journey filled with scroll-triggered animations, time-delayed text, and other effects that make it active and engaging.

7. Telescope

Telescope brings together design, fine art, and culture, profiling artists and others working in creative fields. This website acts as both a preview of their current print edition as well as gives readers a chance to check out their pilot issue. With its big blocks of bold colors, interactive animations, and the juxtaposition between the angular typeface Panama and the more tame mono-linear sans-serif Roobert, it offers an eclectic experience rich in visuals.

8. Medicinal Media

Mental health isn’t always easy to talk about. Through empathy and understanding it’s possible to connect with those who might be having challenges and to help them feel less alone. We were so lucky in our research of digital magazine examples to find one that centers on helping people feel better.

Medicinal Media provides visitors with articles and videos tackling the challenges that so many face in a web design that feels warm and personal. With soft illustrations, the friendly typeface New Spirit, and a comforting color palette, it’s a calming user experience filled with content to help people improve their mental well being.

9. VMAGAZINE

VMAGAZINE takes on pop culture, art, film, and music through the perspective of high fashion. With its large and gorgeous fashion photos, exquisite type, and elegant layout, this website successfully translates the style and sophistication of its print edition into digital form.

10. It’s Nice That

As creatives our interests often cross disciplines. Pursuits like writing, design, photography, and music often overlap, with working in one particular medium motivating and inspiring our work in others. What makes It’s Nice That such a great publication is the wide range of areas they cover. If you’re a creative who loves reading about topics like film, branding, graphic design, and pop culture, It’s Nice That stands out as one of the hippest and multi-facted online digital magazine examples out there.

Transform your editorial content efforts with Vev

If you want to layout your own digital publications, filled with eye-catching effects and interactivity, Vev can help make this easy. Through a visual canvas, animation presets, draggable building blocks, and complete customization, Vev offers everything you need to create digital magazines, and any other type of website you’d like to build.