OUGD601 - Design Development - Editorial design

OUGD601
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
EDITORIAL DESIGN

I chose three main DPS layouts for the magazine. From my research I found that having a variation of layouts makes the content more visually dynamic and interesting, but having too many different spreads can make the magazine seem in cohesive. The next step was to source and edit the images for the inside of the book.

I made the images black and white for a number of reasons, firstly i thought it would make the magazine unique and interesting. Secondly to keep the proton costs down, as this is a start up magazine it is vital to consider cost at all times.

I chose images that used the rule of thirds, placing the person in the middle of the frame accentuates that they are the focal point of the image and text, this is strengthened by the overlaying text titles.

The stock was also taken in to consideration when printing. Bulky news print was used as it is cheap and affordable, but gives the pages a tactile and textured feel. A special stab stitch binding was also used to make the magazine feel more bespoke and hand tailored to the audience, this was done because in my essay i found that consumers preferred to feel and hold a physical magazine, and like the content of the magazine to seem personal and specialised.

OUGD601 - Colours May Vary - Visit

OUGD601
COLOURS MAY VARY
STORE VISIT

Today I visited Colours May Vary as part of my general research for my practical. I wanted to look at the range and diversity of the magazines as well as how they were displayed. 

The store has a minimal and clean design, allowing the magazines to speak for them selves. This is echoed through their online presence as well. Whilst at the store I also asked the owner, Becky palfrey if I could ask some questions regarding my essay, we exchanged emails and i said i would be in contact.

OUGD601 - Interview - Ben Freeman (Ditto Press)

OUGD601
BEN FREEMAN (DITTO FREEMAN)
INTERVIEW

What are the advantages of independent publishing?

There is a difference between independent publishing and self-publishing, Indi publishing is meaningless because there are lots of very big Indi publishers and lots of very shit independent publishing. But if you are talking about self publishing the advantage is you can do what ever you want, there is no body to answer to and I think most of the best publishing enterprises have started off as little independent projects and developed in to something mush bigger. Independent doesn’t mean good.

Do you think it is important for independent magazines to be on digital platforms such as apps?

The important thing is that everyone is aware of what is around them. So it would be stupid to produce a magazine that could only exist digitally it would be stupid to print it because it would be a massive waste of money, because you make so much more profit selling stuff on line, it cost a limited amount to distribute and you get 100% of the profit. Where as if you print a magazine you have to sell a lot of magazines to make any money. But things like fashion magazines are art objects; they have to exist physically as they are objects. Its not the same to look at a laptop or phone screen as it is to hold a piece of paper. I read a lot of stuff online but I read a lot of print fashion magazines, I read private eye on paper because it has that nostalgic feeling, and the same with viz You can probably read it online but its nice to buy a copy.
I really think that the best digital publications are the ones that have taken the medium in to account. The worst thing is when you get a magazine and the online version is one of those things where you can flick through the pages. Why pretend it’s a print magazine? You could have the text be dynamic, images resize, changing format depending how you hold the device, you could have moving content, you could have sound, you could have hyperlinks. Everything that you could have online I think it’s a real shame not to take advantage of that, and it’s the same the other way round so if you’ve got something online and you print it take advantage of print, so use nice paper and good print processes and good inks and all of that stuff other wise there is no point.

Do you think people trust printed information more that digital?

Definitely, it costs money to print stuff, whether or not it is true is a different story. I think that actually there is no difference in the quality of what you read on the BBC website and what you read in the daily mail printed there is a big difference in quality, obviously the news in the daily mail is more bias than the stuff on the BBC website but the BBC website is still bias and neither is 100% true. But I trust print more still, I think it is an inbuilt trait If someone has taken the time and money to print it there must be some truth there.

Also a factor is technical faults, can you comment on this?
If you own an object it’s your possession and it’s static. It doesn’t rely on technology and technology breaks all the time. It is getting more advanced but people still trust things such as books and newspapers and magazines more because if your phone runs out of battery you have nothing to read but if you have a paper back in your pocket you can read it when ever.

In your eyes do you think digital will ever replace print?

Digital has 100% replaced print, so many people have gone bankrupt and gone bust, the print industry has totally changed. I work for a print publishing company and most of the stuff I read is online, at least the vast majority and I love printing, print is my passion and my job so the average person is most definitely consuming most of their information on a screen and that’s fine there is nothing wrong with that.

Is there anything we can do to preserve print?

My attitude is pretty Darwinist If something doesn’t deserve to survive it doesn’t survive. If a book is published and no one buys it and the copies get scrapped that’s just what happens. If print doesn’t deserve to continue surviving it wont survive and if it does it will.