COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (ANS) -- Three internationally known designers and experienced trainers will be the 2012 design track training team for Magazine Training International's (MTI) five-day Advanced Magazine Publishing Institute this Fall in India.

The three trainers, Gary Gnidovic, Anne Elhajoui, and Joshy John Koroth, bring decades of design experience to a track which is expected to attract designers and editors from a variety of countries.

The design track is one of three specializations, which include magazine editing, magazine design, and magazine management.

About half the Institute is comprised of plenary sessions, introducing an overview of the whole system of magazine publishing. In track sessions, participants gain more in-depth training on editing, design, and management. The Institute, Oct. 8 - 12, will be held at the start of the "India 2012: Success in Magazine Publishing" conference.

This year's Magazine Publishing Institute is the second to be held in India. The first one, held last year, garnered high praise.

"It was the first time I went to this type of conference, and I feel so honored to have teachers from very famous organizations," a design track attendee said last year. "I received a lot of theoretical and practical information, and I can't wait to put it into practice at home. I want to come to other courses to go deeper into design. I believe that this is an investment for a long time."

In addition to leading several of the Institute's plenary sessions, Gnidovic, Elhajoui, and Koroth will teach design track participants how to gain an overall perspective on professional magazine design and practical help in improving their designs. They will learn modern design principles and view hundreds of visuals of great magazine layouts, illustrations, and typography.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet and share ideas with Christian designers from around the world and come away with dozens of fresh ideas and renewed inspiration for their magazine.

"It's really opened my mind and helped me to have a sense of design," said an editor who participated in the 2011 design track. "Also, I enjoyed learning new things in the class. I really struggled in the beginning, but I learned how to communicate with my designer."

Gary Gnidovic (Courtesy: MTI).

Veteran MTI trainer, Gary Gnidovic, who previously taught design and photography with MTI in Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic, is the design director for Christianity Today.

He has also worked with Books & Culture, and Today's Christian Woman, and has extensive experience in book cover and corporate design. Gnidovic's designs have received awards from the Evangelical Press Association, Print, HOW, and Communication Arts magazines.

Gnidovic has a B.A. in photography from Southern Illinois University and a M.F.A in design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Anne Elhajoui (Courtesy: MTI).

Anne Elhajoui, an award-winning designer, is another returning trainer whose prior MTI conferences were in Bulgaria, Croatia, and India. Former design director for Discipleship Journal, she is currently art director and designer for Venice magazine and a new Navigator publication called Disciple!. Elhajoui also has her own design business, Aeiou Design, where she designs ads, menus, brochures, and posters.

Elhajoui earned an M.S. degree in design from Pratt Institute in New York City.

Joshy John Koroth is design director of Christian Trends magazine and managing director of Wellspring Publishing in Kochi, Kerala. He also works for Dunamis Communications as a design consultant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Koroth has devoted more than 20 years to the design industry, 13 of which he spent in the UAE. He has collaborated with over 100 organizations.

Joshy John Koroth (Courtesy: MTI).

Previously, he worked with RGB Communications, Sobhagya Advertising Services, and with Focus Magazine, a Campus Crusade for Christ publication in Bangalore. In the UAE he worked with Corporate Publishing International (CPI) and partnered with leading global brands like IDG, Northern & Shell, BBC Worldwide, and Times of India. He also founded his own advertising company at Dubai Media city in alliance with CPI.

Koroth earned a degree in Fine Arts from KGTE, Kerala and a M.Div. from UBS, Pune.

The Institute will be followed by a four-day Digital Magazine Publishing Seminar Oct. 14-17, and the four-day Communicating Through Comics Workshop Oct. 18-21. "India 2012" is the second training event in a series of three annual MTI-sponsored training programs in India. MTI will offer the last of the annual Bangalore training series in November, 2013.

The mission of Magazine Training International (MTI) is to encourage, strengthen, and provide resources to Christian magazines as they seek to build the church and reach their societies for Christ. Over the last 22 years, MTI has offered more than 50 conferences, courses, and seminars in East/Central Europe, Asia, and North America. In addition to courses and conferences, MTI offers training manuals, DVD and MP3 courses, and a Web site with nearly 2,000 pages of publishing resources and information.

More information is available at www.magazinetraining.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MagazineTrainingInternationa l and https://www.facebook.com/MTI.in.India.  

** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International To support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism,' please contact Michael for more information. Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter