Is a magazine too soft for a milestone birthday?

Not if you pick Noir and lean on the jokes. A milestone is a good excuse for a bigger story page, and the nine reasons can be as dry as you like. The sincere part stays short, which is what keeps it from feeling mushy.

Can I add a video from his friends?

There is no video, but you can ask each friend for one line and put them in your letter or on the story page. Written down, a line from his best friend lands about as well as a clip.

What if he is not into cute things?

Choose Noir, keep every line dry, and keep the letter under 150 words. People who say they do not like cute things usually like being noticed, and the reasons page is built for that.

Occasion

Make a birthday website for your boyfriend

Boyfriends are hard to buy for and easy to make laugh, which is why the best birthday websites for boyfriends are funny first and sincere second. Open with the joke, close with the letter. He will screenshot the joke and reread the letter.

The Magazine template is a good fit. It is a flip-through magazine with him on the cover, nine reasons that flip over, photo pages, his songs on a spinning vinyl, and a letter. Pick Noir if he would not be caught dead in pink, add up to twenty photos, and send the link.

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Lead with a cover he will pretend to hate

A magazine cover is already a joke: a name and one big photo, and everyone knows it. Use that. Pick a photo he would object to, the one from the trip where he fell asleep on the train or the one with the bad haircut, and put his name across it. Noir is the safe style for a boyfriend, black and white with sharp type, and it makes any photo look deliberate. If he is the sentimental type, Cherry works too. Either way, the cover sets the tone, so choose it before you write anything else.

Nine reasons, written as dry observations

The reasons page has nine hearts that flip over. For a boyfriend, dry beats sweet. 'You say five minutes and mean forty' is a better reason than 'you make me happy', because it proves you were paying attention. Mix them: six that are funny and specific, two that are quietly sincere, and one that is just true. Write them as a list in your notes app first and read it out loud. If he would roll his eyes at it in person, he will still smile reading it alone, and that is what you are going for.

Photos he would not put on his own phone

The photo pages are where the magazine does its best work for a birthday. There is a photobooth strip, which is made for a run of silly frames, and there are film strips for the longer story. Raid your camera roll for the candid shots: him mid-sentence, him asleep, him losing at something. You can add up to twenty. Save the one best photo for the full-page spread, and put a single line across it. 'Thirty. Still wears the same hoodie.' will do more than a paragraph.

The letter, kept short

After the jokes, give him one honest page. Keep it to 100 to 200 words. One thing you admire that he would never say about himself. One thing he did this year that made things easier for you. One line about what you want for his next year. No poetry unless he writes poetry. Break it into short paragraphs and sign it the way you sign your texts. It sits on a page of its own, so after the fun, the quiet one lands harder than you expect. Add his songs on the vinyl page and you are done.

Send it, then wait for the reply

Text the link on the morning of his birthday with one line, 'I made you a magazine'. You get an email the moment he opens it. The last page is a reply box, which is more than most boyfriends will manage by text, and you get another email if he uses it. Preview it on your own phone first. Previewing is free and private, so read it through in the editor and check the jokes land before you pay to send it.

Questions

Start with The Magazine

Starts as The Magazine, filled in for you. Add your photos and words, preview it for free.

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