Through The Blog Herald I was pointed to Smashing Magazine and When To Use Magazine-Style Themes For Blogs?
It is a great and long post that deals with
• Key Differences
• Why Are More Blogs Moving to Magazine Themes?
• Pros and Cons
• Considerations for Choosing a Style of Theme
• Tutorials for Designing a Magazine Theme
• Resources for Grid-Based Design
• Free Magazine-Style Themes for WordPress
• Premium Magazine-Style Themes for WordPress
It is an impressive starting point if you are curious about magazine style, it includes lots of examples of sites and themes.
I have created my own blog theme, Zen Sandbox theme, based on Sandbox. Creating my own magazine style or grid-based design based on Sandbox would be a challenge.