OUGD601 - City photography and videoing

OUGD601
CITY PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEOING

After I had nailed the concept of the magazine i went about brainstorming how the video would look. I decided to go in to Leeds city centre to take some images and footage of people going about their every day lives. Here are a selection of images and videos that I will be using for  to create my video.

OUGD601 - Interview - Becky Palfrey (Colours May Vary)

OUGD601
INTERVIEW
BECKY PALFREY (COLOURS MAY VARY)

What makes a good independent magazine?

Style and Content. Reliable standards, exclusive content. We often have beautiful magazines submitted with poor content and likewise, great content in ill designed publications. For us the balance has to be right.

How do you select the magazines you stock in your store?

We decide together (Andy and I). The title has to do something different or better than titles already in stock and has to cover all the points raised above!

Do you think people buy independent magazines based on their design alone if not why else do you think people buy independent magazines?

I would like to think that like us most people buy according to both design and content. Some titles are meant to be looked at more than read and in this case of course. The titles we stock are very different from those available on the high street and this is what people that buy them expect from us.

Do you think digital magazine apps are affecting stores that stack independent magazines?

I don't really know to be honest! I have no benchmark, we have only been open 2 years, I do know that there are a lot more printed publications available in this sector than when we opened and this leads us to believe that print is not dead.
Had we been in the business of selling Independent titles for 10 years I would be able to answer the question more fully.
I think some titles rely on a physical interaction with the reader, some are purely content and this can be replicated digitally of course but the vast majority of the titles we stock we do because we believe they are best enjoyed in that format.

Do you think Digital magazines will replace printed magazines making them become redundant?

No, I really don't. I think the more technology becomes part of our lives the stronger the urge will be to escape it.
Our relationship to books and journals is very different to our relationship with on screen information, we absorb it in a very different and I would say more contemplative way. It enables focus. There is a huge growth in self publishing and whilst e books are growing and may eventually outstrip printed sales I cannot see print becoming redundant. I think the publications that do well in our market are the ones that pay attention to the book or magazine as a physical object, they make it something to treasure. It's like the difference between a letter and an email. A letter is something to treasure, it might have a scent, be written on something with an emotional connection. We engage with it in a different way, It becomes something valuable and therefore, to my mind a sustainable and precious medium. 

OUGD601 - Design Development - Print presence

OUGD601
DESIGN DEVELOPMENTS
PRINT PRESENCE

Tote bag - 

As part of the kickstarter campaign I decided to make branded tote bags as one of the rewards for the backers. I used heat transfer vinyl to give them a professional polished finished.

Firstly I created the art work on Illustrator, I used the simple logo as it is clear and concise and works as another promotional tool.

Next i made added a stroke to the outline of the text.

the next step was to create outlines of the art work.

As it is transfer vinyl I had to create the reflected image so when it is transferred it reads correctly.

Unfortunately the vinyl cutter didn't cut deep enough in to the vinyl, as a result I had to go over the design with a scalpel, due to the curviness of the logo this proved very hard and time consuming.

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. 

OUGD601 - Interview - Alec Dudson (Intern Magazine)

OUGD601
INTERVIEW
ALEC DUDSON (INTERN MAGAZINE)

In your opinion how are new magazines becoming successful?

I think they are tapping in to a desire for consumers to have and buy in to variety of personally curated publications that give a really interesting personal take on any giving subject. Its good that by virtue of being independent they are free willed in subject matter and it boils down to human interest. People are often a lot better represented by new independent magazines because they cater to a far smaller portion of readers than something like vogue or GQ.

With the breadth of magazines in circulation how important is it to define your audience and how do you go about it?

The more that come out the more competition there is generally. If you are in to independent magazines then naturally you are open to new ones and find them interesting and keen to see what’s going on. So the trick is not just to nail down that audience, but to pull your self out as being the publication to go to on that specific theme. How you go about it is having a really clear voice. For instance there is a lot of travel magazines out there so if you are a travel magazine you need to be the travel magazine that does things differently and build up your audience and your audiences loyalty through the strengths and consistency.
How can you insure longevity for independent magazines due to the niche information?
These are all factors you have to consider when coming up with your concept. For me at intern magazine if tomorrow morning unpaid internships were made illegal and that was enforced to be honest there would probably be one more issue in the magazine and then it would seize to exist because the discussion is no longer there. You always run the risk of that happening. But from the people I have met that make magazines are so in to what they make magazines about, that if they were out of the industry for too long they would look to get back in to it through another title. Longevity is something you have to aspire to. A lot of magazines don’t make it past the first issue, which is a shame because there is a lot of good ideas out there, however the financial reality of it all is often a great shock. The only safe guard against that is to research, not just in to content and design but in to the market and the process. Everything from between the idea generation to getting it in someone’s hands. Distributers, Subscription, online sales, over seas distribution. As soon as possible you have to consider the bigger picture, you have to be open to learning as you go along.

The importance of printing your work as opposed to blogs?

There is a lot of Internet content out there. The great thing about the Internet is it gives everyone a voice. However it also inevitable drags down the over all quality of the content because peoples motivations are completely different some people will publish stuff online because they feel strongly about a certain matter, some will publish online for a laugh, some for a joke. The bigger financial commitment that comes with printing your work weeds a lot of that out, if you are going to the trouble of printing stuff your editorial bar is raised so the need for it to stand out is greater. It is a really nice affirmation for people with talent that I try to make a point that not only are these people good enough to go in to print, but they can go in to print and hold their own with the industry that they feel locked out of.

Is print more validated?

There are situations where that is not the case. There isn’t any critical value for being printed in the daily star for instance. Print has different functions and implications and with in the realm independent magazines there is that personally curated feel. The fact that most of the magazines you see on shelves are treated as a tactile object there is care that has gone in to them. Unit costs is through the roof for independent magazines, they are printing a lot less and paying a lot more compared to large commercial magazines. It’s a labour of love and that is what makes them really attractive to customers that’s what makes them such a nice thing to be involved in as a contributor, so the jostle for positions with in them is greater, so that often drives the standards up.
It was always intended to be a niche topic in order to give me a chance to define a readership. The content kind of follows that. The challenge of the content is for it to remain fresh. In one sense we have a slender and narrow focus but with in that there is a constant effort to provide some consistency so that the issues follow on from one another in a coherent manor but also to go down different avenues of inquiry and keep the audience guessing to a certain degree. But your readerships response to your content affects how you curate it moving forward. The beauty of being an independent magazine is that you are a lot more nimble than a grand old institution in the fact that if users don’t like one thing but not another you can just change it. That is the beauty of being able to retain complete creative control that you can move with the times. Once you have identified your topic you need to retain an element of elasticity in order to move with the times.

Have you utilised the Internet to advertise and distribute your magazine?

Primary means of doing it was kick-starter, but that was always in conjunction with social media. Again if you have zero budget to start with you have to realise that there is a huge difference between online sentiment for example likes and retweets to people actually buying the magazine. People can like everything I post and don’t buy the mag. It is a really great tool to increase visibility but not for profit to a degree it is designed for the people selling advertising space for example facebook who are chasing clicks. Clicks don’t mean anything. I paid £8 for 8000 people to see one of our posts in their newsfeed, but no one clicks on sponsored links. The people who work on marketing these things will have you believe that it is guaranteed sales, but it is nothing of the sort. But it is all part of the risk of advertising, last time I saw a billboard I didn’t buy what was on it but its job is to increase brand visibility. The most direct sales knock on for us is online press. If I get interviewed on New York Times or similar I will sell 30 magazines that day.

How do you sell the tactile nature of a magazine online?

People who are interested in print magazines still use the Internet I don’t think one must exist with out the other or one must be better. There are something’s that the Internet is better suited to and something’s id rather read in a magazine. You cant give too much content away online because then no one will buy the magazine, so it is an altered content online, bonus interviews and so on. It’s almost like bonus content online; you try and feed people by enticing them, if you want to get to the juice of the matter and get to the story then you have to buy the magazine. There are many strategies of trying to make the two mediums dovetail.

Do you have a digital magazine in conjunction to your printed one?

We have an IPad issue of our first issue, I creatively directed this project with the early Domus magazine in mind. It was beautiful interactive and you could slide away aspects, spin things. The concept was interactive design and trying to make it tactile in another, you need to get people drawn in. Apple have neglected newsstand from day one, if they’d paid the same amount of attention as the app store it could have been huge for independent publishers. They don’t market it at all, we designed it for the IPad and it exists as a stand- alone app. By the time we’ve sold that, 50% of the profit goes back to apple, the same as if it were an app, so you have to sell thousands of it to make any profit. A separate design team is needed and cost thousands of pounds. We charge £2.99 and id be amazed if I’ve sold 250 copies and that has been around for almost a year. Fundamentality if companies like apple invested more time and interest in those platforms, I think a lot more independent publishers would be looking to utilise that platform. When so many people are giving away things for free on the Internet it becomes hard to sell digital copies of magazines to that market.