Take a look at this:
These are blog posts, tackled with the attitude of a magazine designer. There’s a whole lot more in this post at Smashing Magazine, which looks at the rise of the ‘blogazine’, and interviews four of its leading exponents. Stunning stuff – well worth a read. Now, is there a plugin that makes this as easy to do as magazine layout?
Online Journalism Blog 
It must be extremely heavy on CSS and HTML. But maybe nothing compared to what we load anyway these days, video, images etc.
I don’t know how much of a ‘rise’ there is in this style. 34 hits on technorati for the term blogazine and no data in Google Trends?
Ha! Fair point. Well, a rise from 0 to 4 is still steep… 😉
Nice post. Please do let us know if you find a plugin – or theme – to help with creating a magazine-style blog. They really are appealing. Now…on to check out the Smashing Mag post.
Layouts like this seem much more conducive to things like cartoons that you have been talking about missing. Coupons and other print-related things might be more available with a layout like this that already has expectations and plans involving those things.
I think, too, that informal layouts, like in many blogs, can scare unfamiliar users away. If what they are working with is familiar, more may participate.
@Melanie
I think a plugin or a theme for a blogazine is beside the point. What I appreciate about blogazines is that they require a lot more time, work and understanding of web design to make. Anyone can blog, but not everyone can create a blogazine with a unique design for each post. They’re ideal for web designers who want to publish content and practice their skills simultaneously.
A lot of you are missing the point, it’s not about plugins and pre-mades, its about turning your writing and your design into the piece as a whole.