Month / July 2014

by Magdiaries

Sticky spray glued fingers

I am lucky to have experienced the end of cut and paste, laboring over a grid sheet with sticky spray glued fingers and a cigarette made it a tactile job.

Digitisation of our workflow has given designers far more control over the final outcome. There is more time for creative collaboration, constant iteration and the pursuit of perfection.

I think there will be a really exciting leap when we can properly view digital magazines rather than the compromised experience we have now. While this happens, the audience for quality print publications will increase, defining both readers and creators.

Exciting times.

 Ewan Buck | Design Director, PPA Business Media Designer of the year 2013



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

A privileged position

PPA Scotland supports magazine publishers through events, training, lobbying, research and by generally promoting the industry. That’s the official information we give to potential members and sponsors.

It’s a bit more than that for me though.

Essentially, I’m an events manager with a wider remit of industry ‘engagement’. But actually I’m privileged to be a part of an industry with a passion, creativity and imagination that makes the challenges of the digital revolution seem simple and the future wonderfully exciting.

Magazines began as a treat for me and became a way to make a living. Now they’re bordering on family.

Nikki Simpson | Business Manager, PPA Scotland



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

A glass half empty

Find a decent pub these days and you’ll notice a huge variety of great-tasting craft beers on offer. It’s a far cry from the brewing monoculture of 20 years ago; perhaps even a golden age for brewing.

Except across the industry as a whole, sales, profits and employment have fallen. The big players have had to merge and diversify to keep going. You can see where this metaphor leads can’t you?

The mag business is seeing an explosion of creativity and innovation, but that doesn’t mean there’s a particularly rosy future except at some micro level.

My glass is half-empty.

Don Brown | Digital Marketing Specialist, The Brown Consultancy



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

What to do with digital

People ask me what they can do with their magazines on digital.

I wish I could put this on repeat:

Take your mag, rip it up, start again, take the best, make it fizz, make it quick, make it more, make it move, make it talk, have a laugh. Make it mobile, make it work, make it fast, make it last. Try it out, ask around, if it fails – start again, start from scratch, something new, make it now, make it grow. Take a risk, dare to fail.

Alternatively I could advise, “publish a PDF replica to meet ABC requirements”.

David Hicks | Digital Creative Consultant, co-founder of Magvault.com

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Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

The by-line I deserve

It took me seven years, countless hours of unpaid work, two letters of resignation and more than a few gallons of boiling blood and salty tears before I got the by-line I deserve.

Young journalists have to work extraordinarily hard but if you love writing enough, you’ll get your break.

As well as a bit of luck and a pinch of talent, being an open, positive person is vital. Magazine publishing is about sharing knowledge and making yourself useful to the whole team.

The people who believe magazine publishing is about treading on necks are out of touch.

Rose Brooke | Editor, Rapid News Communications

 



Grub Street Journal