Category / 100 Words

by Magdiaries

Smells like ‘zine spirit

First week. Latest issue arrives.

My colleague grabs a copy, pulls open a random page and thrusts his face into it. I got used to him doing that with each new issue. “I love the smell” he’d explain to every new, puzzled recruit as they saw his ritual for the first time.

I could make the simplistic, obvious point about not being able to do that with a tablet magazine, but I won’t. Of all the reasons magazines are brilliant, smell is low down the list.

My point is: keep print alive. Or people like this will roam the streets.

Matthew Bellotti | Chief Content Officer, Mongoose Publishing, Malaysia

 

 



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

The heart of a digital immigrant

It’s a brave new world right enough. Full of seers and visionaries all advocating the creed of digital.

But spare a thought for the humble print  magazine that still has a place in the heart of a digital immigrant.

We may slowly succumb to the lure of side swipes and responsive design. But not while there are customers who desire great content and beautiful images on paper that they can hold and enjoy without needing to pinch and push first.

I accept the need to ‘innovate’, ‘disrupt’ and broaden our horizons but for the moment it is still ‘our time’. Just…

Brian Cameron | Sales Director, Scottish Field

 



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

Rich experiences

Today, magazines are whatever you want them to be.

Magazines used to just be glossy paper, pictures, advertisements and stories that arrived in the mail.

Not anymore.

Now they are interactive digital experiences, videos, mobile apps, shopping opportunities, seminars, augmented reality, audio on demand, embedded motion pictures, edible pages, printed-on-demand magazines, and more… While also still wonderfully tactile print publications!

Publishers and advertisers are constantly dreaming up new ways of entertaining and informing their readers.

Aren’t we lucky to be living in an age when being a “magazine reader” means getting to richly experience a magazine, not just read it.

John Wilpers | Senior Director, Innovation International Media Consulting



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

Better than rock ’n’ roll

Thirty years in magazines – from puppy-keen teenager to grumpy middle age – and I have never spent two days doing exactly the same thing. Even rock stars sing the same songs but we never write exactly the same article twice.

And now we have infinite variety in the way we deliver our content too. Tweet a thought, write a blog, post a video. Infinite variety, endless learning opportunities and the chance to work with fabulously creative people.

I’m not surprised that puppy-keen teenagers are still queuing up to launch a career in magazines – it’s better than  rock ’n’ roll.

Sally Hampton | Editor-in-Chief, My Weekly and The Scots Magazine



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

Three things creative people thrive on

Publishing is built on three things that creative people thrive upon: boundaries, cycles, and newness.

Boundaries present us with a framework – dimensions, pagination, themes, budgets and schedules. They challenge but don’t inhibit us.

Cycles keep us interested in the world. We blitz through to deadline with stressful days and late-nights – and then we pause again for breath and move onto the next issue.

Which reminds me of the seasons. We yearn for shade at the end of a hot summer, and pray for light in the final weeks of a dark winter.

Really all we’re craving for is newness.

 Danny Miller | CEO, Human After All



Grub Street Journal