Colorado Springs, CO – Magazine Training International (MTI) announces the release of a six-disk, 11-hour DVD course on Design for Magazines. The course is taught by three award-winning magazine designers and illustrated by over 1,000 full-color visuals.

Intended for an international audience, the course features subtitles in Spanish, Russian, and both simplified and traditional Chinese. A 100-page manual is available in eight language editions in PDF format on an accompanying CD disk.

Trainers Greg Breeding, creative director for Journey Communications, Gary Gnidovic, art director at Christianity Today International, and Adele Mulford, then art director for Discipleship Journal, have all taught magazine design internationally.  Taken together, their international exposure rests on experience as trainers in MTI design courses in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Malaysia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic.

Professionally filmed in the Czech Republic, the DVD course covers the magazine’s visual identity, the relationship of words and images, the design elements, typography, magazine architecture, cover design, photography, redesign, the relationship of art directors and editors, and designing on a modest budget.

"Attractive design can increase a magazine’s appeal to readers, enhance readability, and more effectively communicate the magazine’s message," says Sharon Mumper, president of Magazine Training International. "We believe that whether those who view the course are experienced designers or novices, they will receive fresh insights, creative ideas, and new energy and enthusiasm for the task of magazine design."

The design manual has been available in multiple languages for a number of years. "However, this course is impossible to replicate without the visual element," says Mumper.  "For that reason, we decided to film the course before an international audience in order to make it available in DVD format."

The 100-page manual which accompanies the course follows the lectures,  providing a convenient outline of the course. It includes a glossary of magazine design terms, as well as samples of helpful charts, forms, and checklists. It is available in PDF format in English, Spanish, Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Croatian, and both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Because the production cost of the course has been subsidized, it is available at a much lower price than such a professionally-produced DVD course normally would demand. The course may be ordered on line at http://www.magazinetraining.com/PublisherResources/mtimanuals/DVD_Designcoursenew/

Christians in the Developing World may order it at an even more significantly reduced price. Those who qualify should write MTI for access to a link to the discount pages.

The new DVD course is the second such course produced by Magazine Training International. The first is the seven disk, 13-hour course on "Managing the Magazine: The Business of Magazine Publishing," filmed before an international audience in Los Angeles. It was released last year and is also available with subtitles in Russian, Spanish, and both traditional and simplified Chinese. A 125-manual outlining the course is available in eight languages and is included in PDF format on an accompanying CD.

Although MTI offers five courses and has manuals available in a total of 30 editions, the business and design courses are the only ones the organization plans to offer in DVD format.

"We believe that with the course manual, an experienced writer or editor can teach the other courses to staff or even in seminars or workshops," says Mumper. "However, these two courses would be difficult for even experienced publishing professionals to teach on their own.  The DVD courses make it possible for even a less-experienced editor or publisher to serve as coordinator and discussion leader."

For more than 20 years, Magazine Training International has been offering courses and conferences on every topic related to magazine publishing. MTI’s program has been centered primarily in East-Central Europe and Asia, but draws participants from around the world.