Context of Practice: Magazine Exploration

The Downfall of the printed publication

I did some research into the usage and popularity of magazines over the past few years. The results are shown below.

Numbers of readers of printed publications have taken a huge hit over the past couple of decades. The internet and smart phones are taking over how we receive our news and info.

Magazines

throughout my written essay, I talk about the evolution of magazines and how the magazines of today try to survive in the predominantly digital age.

The most effective way that these magazine have done it is to bring out a smart phone application that supports the magazine.

This app is usually just a digital alternative to the magazine, sharing content and layout. This allows people to read the magazine on their phones where ever they may be. This is effective for boosting reader numbers, however it means that people will download the app and not even think of buying the print copy.

So having an application is one solution that works in someways, but not in others.

Existing Magazine & Newspaper Apps

New York Times

Buzz Feed

The Daily Beast

My Concept

My own magazine & matching application concept deals with this issue. What I aim to create is an app that is only activated by the magazine itself. This means that the application will be no where near as useful without the print magazine to activate the images.

This will lead people to buy both the publication in print form and download the app to SUPPORT the magazine instead of replace.

In doing this, the magazine will have a both a strong print and digital presence.

Above is a screen grab from a video I found online showcasing a similar concept to the one I am creating.

The above application allows people to have printed photos in and around their house, along with other uses such as with newspapers, that are then activated with an iPhone app. The photos then come to life on the phone screen.

My application will be similar to this, however its uses will be specifically for the publication.

Behance Projects

For inspiration on editorial design, I've looked at a number of existing examples of ski publications that have a strong consideration for design and that I would ideally like my magazine to look similar too

Examples I will be taking influences from include:

Resort Brochure for the ski resort Le Grand Bornand

Published by French designer

The brochure consists of 3 parts. Each part being a different format. All evoking the idea of expansion, exponential happiness. This sequential cutting, leaving partially appear photography background, invites you to discover, to the surprise.

Newschoolers.com magazine

An annual compilation of the most popular pictures, videos, forum threads and news stories from the past year, produced into a high-quality collectible magazine masterfully curated by a massive community of passionate skiers.

I am a big fan of the combination of colourless images with brightly coloured text over the top. It results in a highly eye catching title page.

The small detail of the skier doing a flip over the road, over the text, is another detail I admire about the design. It gives the reader a good idea of the contents from the get-go.