Month / August 2014

by Magdiaries

Apocalypse… now?

I’ve worked in magazines for almost four years now, and since I started I’ve heard that digital magazines would be the end of print magazines…

What I’ve found though is that magazines are more diverse; yes a portion of magazine sales are digital, but what I’ve also seen is that websites have grown and adapted to consumer needs, just as many magazines continue to do.

Print no longer makes up the whole of the magazine market, instead of a print tree, magazines are now a tripod, supported by digital, web and print, and are thrice as accessible because of it.

John Rumble | Newstrade marketing manager, Frontline Ltd



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

The B2B life

So much for me starting out in trade journalism then darting off to Vogue after six months. Twenty years on and I’m still loving everything B2B magazines throw at me.

Publishing is great. I especially love B2B if only for the reason that when you tell people what you do, they say ‘oooooh’ and when you tell them on what, they say ‘oh’.

Joking aside, there’s nothing better than putting together a magazine or writing website stories hoping your readers like what you’ve done. Plus, you get to meet fantastic people and travel the world – what could be better?

Lu Rahman | Group editor, Rapid News Communications



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

Imagination is our only limit

Today’s magazines form relationships with their readers in ways that we simply could not have imagined twenty years ago.

Whether online, through a myriad of social media platforms, digital replicas and podcasts or the tactile feel of print and paper it’s the content that engages, excites and motivates readers.

In the coming years the way in which we choose to distribute content will continue to evolve and with it the ways in which we communicate and interact with readers.

This is a terrifically exciting time to be part of the magazine business. The only limit, as ever, is our imagination.

John Innes | Associate Director, Think Publishing

 



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

Stop and feel the print

Once a friend introduced me to a blind gentleman.

“You are the lady who produces that beautiful magazine”, he said.

Realising he was blind, I replied: “Very kind of you but how do you know it’s beautiful?”

“I could feel it when I held it”.

We touch all that we love. Through touch we learn about the world around us.

Digital newspapers and magazines are a blessing to the mind and eyesight, but they refrain us from exercising the gift of touch. Let us nurture them but never forget to read with our blind eyes.

Stop and feel the print.

Renata Parolari Fernandes | Founder, Five Star Magazine



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

Made to last

So it’s all about data, it seems.

Journalists and designers stuck in iron cages for the digital age: analytics, impressions, metrics; rationalization, control systems, surveillance. Man…

Thank god, then, that we still got magazines, perpetual conduits for improvisation, adventure and fun. Flatplanning, commissioning, interviewing; creating, improvising, editing, designing; the pleasures of making; the deadline in sight – but not quite here yet. And once it’s back from print, contemplation, enjoyment… fun! Sit, read, put it back, pick it up again, next week, whenever.

Ultimately, things are more enjoyable – and better! – when done slower and made to last.

Vince Medeiros | Publisher, The Church of London



Grub Street Journal