I think magazines will continue to serve a purpose in the future, though there may be fewer of them. Computer access and use will continue to increase with magazine information and images being accessed via computer as easily as picking up a physical paper magazine. The ability to interact with paper and to easily flip through a magazine and have physical contact with the information will always be appealing.
Many magazines fit a typical size format, although for example, National Geographic is slightly smaller at 7x10. Key to readability is keeping the large amounts of information organized within a clear format. Fewer font types and sizes reduce clutter, but some differentiation is needed to make categories stand out. Light weight paper conveys a transient image giving the impression that the magazine and it's contents will not be kept around long.
Fast Company is a magazine that is about the latest in business, entrepreneurship and creativity. It uses large san serif type for section heads and incorporates creative use of type for some of its article titles. A combination of fonts is used for body copy using both serif and san serif styles. The magazine is slightly oversized and the cover is printed on a mat finish paper that allows colors to pop on the page. In general, the magazine conveys a contemporary look and feel that gives you the impression that what it holds inside is keeping with the pace of business ideas today.
The olive oil and balsamic vinegar bottle labels (images yet to be posted) use the font suburban. I've never seen suburban actually used in the real world and I think it's symbol-like forms are appropriate for marketing olive oil which is grown in, for example, Greece. Some of the decenders/letters look like they come from the Greek alphabet. The little used ( in my opinion) suburban adds visual interest in contrast to using more commonly used fonts. The words olive oil are apparently not in suburban but another typeface. Whatever this font is, it contributes an organic almost middle eastern feel - again appropriate to olive oil marketing.
David Pasternak of Galapagos Design has worked in type design for over 20 years. He refers to traditional methods of creating type like working in wood and metal rather than relying solely on the computer. He designs with the reader in mind.
The font Maiandra "meandering" was inspired by a fon designed by Oswald Cooper and used in 1909 for furniture ads. The font has subtle irregularities and picks up color well. Maiandra has three weight with italic and works well for extended text like in brochures and correspondence.