Working on a Literary magazine is enjoyable. I’ve wondered how it worked on the other end, when before I sent in submissions. Now I see the thought process of what gets accepted. Its not all that different from a class workshop session. I’m part of the design team, so most of our work is at the beginning of the semester, and toward the end. Designing a flyer was fun, but you have to make sure you are able to use the images you find. I’m not well versed in the legality, but best to stay safe.
In the mean time I usually practice with the software we use. I already had some editing skills, so picking up InDesign was easy for me. It is a great chance to learn how publishing works. It makes me curious how other literary magazines and publishers work. Spreading flyers around campus is good exercise too. I also wondered how elaborate PDF’s were made and now I know how, which will be helpful to design my own covers.
The only drawback I would could offer is that being in the design team, and having our work at the beginning and end of the semester, this middle section is awkward. I’m constantly in a state of “I’m not contributing anything and I should be contributing”. Not having much to do isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it certainly helps me catch up with my other classes, but it nags at me. Then of course I overthink and wonder if the cover and everything else will turn out okay. I have to remind myself that I need to worry about that when we get there. This is my own brain doing this, I have this anxiety with all of my classes. This isn’t something that dawned in The Iris Review.
So, if you have a visual eye or experience in Canva, photoshop, or any other image editor, I recommend the Design Team. Just be aware of how much ink you’ll use when you print.