It may not exactly be Harvard University students’ new sex magazine, but Boston University will soon get its own risqué publication.

Joe magazine, founded and staffed almost entirely by Boston University students, will launch May 1 after six months of production and development.

Editor-in-Chief and Founder Pablo Rojas, a College of Fine Arts senior, said BU students played an integral role in producing the magazine, which included “four months of production and two months of preparation.” Of its 20-member staff, “pretty much everybody is from Boston University,” Rojas said – a few others are freelance writers from across the country.

Rojas said the magazine aims to combine men’s interests with men’s entertainment.

“Men’s entertainment is things like cars, sex and women. Men’s interests include politics and more cultural things,” Rojas said. “The magazine will be a combination of Maxim with GQ or Esquire.”

The magazine’s title reflects the variety of features, he said, ranging from an exclusive interview with Harvard teaching fellow and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura to a news feature on the origins of terrorism, both in the first issue.

“We chose the name Joe because we want people to be able to say, ‘Oh, he’s a Joe man,’ and know that that’s a guy who’s responsible, knowledgeable and knows how to have a good time,” Rojas said.

He said that he hopes the content will attract a specific audience.

“We want to get the attention of guys who are just graduating from college that are looking to have a good time, go to bars, meet people and travel but who still need more than just a complete party attitude,” Rojas said.

Rojas developed the idea for the magazine while studying in Australia and immediately began planning it while abroad.

“I did preliminary work like research and sending out word about the magazine from Australia to Boston using email and newsletters,” he said. “By the time I got back, a huge group was interested.”

Soon after, College of Communication junior Kira Millage and School of Management senior Lara Gast got involved.

“[Rojas] said I would be doing all the business and operations of it, and since my concentration is in finance and operations management, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity,” Gast said.

Once the trio came back to Boston, they began to further develop the magazine.

“We took it slow, felt it out to see what the response would be,” Gast said. “We automatically had a positive reaction from classmates and the community.”

Gast stressed that while creating the magazine was not easy, the staff has done a good job.

“Starting a business of any kind is extremely difficult and time consuming,” she said. “But I knew exactly what I was getting into in terms of the work load.”

Rojas said Joe will support itself through advertising.

“We sought out advertising, which was very difficult because we didn’t have an actual product to show them,” he said. “But a few places showed support.”

The magazine plans to start small and grow, he said.

“We’re going to distribute solely in Boston at first, then regionally along the East Coast and then nationwide,” he said. “The first issue is free because we want people to pick it up and get it going.”

The magazine, which will be published every other month, will continue to print over the summer.

“The magazine took a lot of dedication,” Gast said. “Everyone’s taking it seriously – not like it’s just a school project counting as a grade. We think it’s seriously going somewhere.”

That seriousness will begin with a launch party at the Avalon including a “team of Joe Girls” to help promote the magazine.