Student Spotlight: Interior Design Magazines

Today’s post comes from Lisa of Michigan State University. She currently authors Juxtaposition Design Blog, click here to visit her site.

As interior design students, with a wide variety of focuses and taste, yet a common need for inspiration and exploration, it is often that we turn to interior design magazines for assistance. Titles such as “Interior Design” and “Architectural Digest” are usually some of the first to come to mind. But, this got me wondering what other resources were out there? After some much needed research, I have found that there is a variety of interior design magazines available and I wanted to be able to share this list with other students to use as a resource!

General Interior Design Magazines:

• Frame – This contemporary design magazine is really cutting-edge and focuses on bringing their readers amazing photos of newly created interiors worldwide, in-depth articles on recently created commercial interiors and their designers, and the latest in product design. The downside is that this is a European magazine so it could get a little pricey. My guess would be about $55/year.

• New York Spaces– This magazine is more focused on residential design in New York but has features of really unique interiors and products. I was able to snag this one for free since, as students, we are “involved with the industry”!

Interior Design Magazine

• Interior Design – One of the top (as well as most innovative, in my opinion) interior design magazines. It covers both commercial and residential design, but definitely focuses more on the commercial side. $59.95/year, but often available through your school for a student discount of $19.95/year.

• Architectural Digest – Another one of the top design magazines, slightly more traditional in nature. It also covers both commercial and residential design, with a slight lean towards the residential side. $21/year.

Retail/Hospitality Design Magazines:

• Hospitality Design– This is the premier trade magazine for the field of hospitality design. It covers the design of hotels, resorts,restaurants, cruise ships, country clubs, night clubs, conference centers, spas, senior living facilities, etc. This mag is $83/year but FREE to those in the field! I have not been able to find out if this applies to students, but applying for the free subscription is definitely worth a shot.

VMSD Cover

• Visual Merchandising and Store Design (VMSD) – This magazine shows the latest in store design as well as presents merchandising strategies and new products. It is a smaller magazine but packed with information, so I highly recommend it if you are interested in retail desin! VMSD was another one that I was able to snag for free as a student!

• Display and Design Ideas (DDI) – DDI’s purpose is to help retailers maximize sales through effective store design and visual presentation. Even though I’m not technically going into retailing I still think this magazine would be very beneficial if I go into retail design. Knowing something about how to maximize sales through design would definitely be seen as a big plus by employers and clients. A FREE subscription to those “involved with retail design”.

Unique Interior Design Magazines:

• PIN-UP – As a “magazine for architectural entertainment”, PIN-UP gives a true artistic and indie edge to the interior design and architectural world. It features interviews, artwork, and articles by designers, architects, and artists from all over the globe. A year subscription (2 issues) is available from the PIN-UP website for $34, or you can buy individual issues for $10 from americanapparel.net

• Apartamento– Described as “an everyday life interiors magazine”, Apartamento brings fourth an innovative view on home interiors. It seems like the people behind this magazine believe that design of the home is a true reflection of the user and almost something that happens naturally. Available for 25 Euro from the Apartamento website, or $15.00 from americanapparel.net (I know which choice I would make!).

Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Design Magazines:

• Eco-Structure – A more architecturally-based magazine, but, free subscription for those “in the industry!”

• Green Source – This is a collaborative magazine that explores and teaches about the planning and deign of sustainable buildings. $19.95/year.

I hope that this can be a good starting point for finding interior design magazines more focused on your interests. I encourage comments if you know of any other awesome magazines that are out there!

I would also like to take a quick moment to make a special announcement regarding IIDA!

Michigan State Interior Design Students

First of all, my name is Lisa Backus and I am in my junior year of the interior design program at Michigan State University. I author a blog called Juxtaposition Design, and I am also currently the Publicity Chair for the Michigan State University Student Chapter of ASID. MSU has continually had an ASID chapter but, as of last week, we are officially starting the transition to a general interior design organization that will now also have an IIDA Campus Center! We still have a lot of steps to take to establish this all correctly, but I am very excited to soon welcome IIDA to Michigan State University!