Magazine Production Series – Part I

Since 1996, JIBS United Magazine has been tasked with producing a new magazine issue every semester. Do you wonder what it is like to work with us? Follow along on our magazine production series to get some insight on what the creation process looks like! We’re kicking off the series with an insider’s view into what our writers do.

The Way it Ends and Begins

When the celebration of our new magazine release is over, everything but our minds quieten down. We eagerly think about what our next magazine theme could be, what the design might look like, and what themes would be of interest to students. What you see here may look like a messy situation of a roughly-drawn mind-map, a half-eaten kanelbulle, and an empty cup of tea, but for us, this is the most important step of the magazine – getting started.

Every semester we begin the creation process by determining the theme of our next magazine issue. Sometimes, our minds overflow with ideas, but other times, it takes a long brainstorming session with the team before deciding on one idea. Especially now, after having had a theme with a strong focus on the pandemic in our last issue, selecting a theme was tougher than usual. How do we follow up something so grave? However, this is what our purpose is. We need to develop a feeling for what people want to read about by asking ourselves, “What would I like to read about?” Reflecting upon subjects that we often think about leads us to identify a theme that appeals to a wide audience.

The Brainstorming Behind it All

As soon as we choose our overall, broad theme, it is time for the writers spring into action. A meeting accompanied by pastries and hot beverages is the perfect setting for a creative brainstorming session. We discuss openly about possible sub-topics in relation to our theme. Oftentimes you will find that the writer’s personality strongly influences the different articles. Whatever that may be an ongoing topic in our own lives or any issue that has aroused our curiosity, will often find its way into one of our articles. This is the great thing about being one of our writers – you have the autonomy to write articles of your own interests and have them published in the magazine for all to see. It is often the case that whatever concerns you, as a student, also resonates with other students and will therefore find its rightful spot and audience.

How We Work

After distributing two to three articles to each writer, the active working process begins. Nothing is more interesting than finding the right people to interview for an article and listening to their perspectives and stories. This is how great inputs come together! Usually, a writer spends around two weeks on their first article before moving on to the next. We have unlimited creative freedom on what we wish to include in the articles – from self-designed quizzes to serious research or motivational words. To us, writing is all about raising interest and giving readers something worthy to digest. As soon as an article is finished, it is passed on to our proof-readers. But what they do… is a story for the next part of our magazine production series, so stay tuned!

Written by Stella Falduto