Top 25 NZ Magazines (Circulation)

A rough idea (wikipedia) of New Zealands Top 25 magazines according to issue circulation

Most of the magazines in this list seem to be traditional format magazines that would be sold at popular non-specialist stores such as supermarkets, though I do not think this is entirely the reason for their popularity. The vast majority of these magazines are broad subject matters that would engage with a wide audience such as womans interest magazines, skywatch and readers digest. Many of these magazines are also quite regularly produced (weekly or monthly), at this point I cannot be sure if this is a result of high sales or vice versa, probably the former or a mixture of both.

Idn Editorial Design Issue

It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times.

“The famous opening line of Charles Dickens’s novel a tale of two cities is a perfect description of todays publishing industry. There are more means of communication available to us today than ever before – but such a plethora of choices inevitably implies that not all of them will survive.” - idn (vol.16 no.5 2009)   

Excerpts from Idn magazine: Editorial Design issue

How do you see the future for little white lies – and editorial design in general?

We see ourselves just plodding along, adding new bits and bringing new ideas to LWL as and when we can afford it, and generally trying to keep it fresh and relevant. As for editorial design in general, while we take no pleasure in the fact that many magazine companies are closing in this wintery economic climate, we would like to think that it might force people to think more carefully about the standards and qualities of their magazines. Basically when it’s hard to survive , people have to up their game, and the overall quality of magazines that I might find on a shelf will rise. We don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing for magazines, or for editorial design in general.

Looking further into the idea of cross media collaboration, here are two music videos from animator/illustrator Anthony Schepperd. Schepperd uses his recognizable style to enhance the narrative of the music. Though again the work is primarily attributed to the musician Schepperd adds a unique character that is instantly recognisable as him to most people who have seen any of his work, even if they simply remember him as "the guy who did that blockhead video".



"The Music Scene" from Anthony Francisco Schepperd on Vimeo.



Bonobo, "Eyesdown" (Machinedrum Remix) from SyncHarder.com on Vimeo.

The art of Cosmogramma.


A video highlighting the visual work of Leigh McCloskey to accompany the cosmogramma album by Los Angeles musician Flying Lotus. Though these books don't necessarily reflect what we understand as the 'print industry', perhaps these hand created one-offs better reflect a possible future for printed material. The intention being as an art piece or desirable object, where the way the user engages with the content and the way it is presented takes priority over the clarity of the message.

Cosmogramma Cover Art - Flying Lotus (2010)

"A creative feeling emerges into us and we try to write it down and as soon as you try to turn it into words it dissipates and disappears." Leigh McCloskey.

Beyond the book itself this project also represents another important point in regards to printed media. The project is a collaboration between McCloskey and Steven Ellison (Flying Lotus), creating a cross-media project that works towards creating one overall message and end product. As album art the music still takes pride of place in the project and is still promoted as a musical album so is nothing overly new in that sense, but it does raise the question of how far cross-media collaboration could go and what it could do to inject excitement into many different industries/media.

Re: Fiona Banner Exhibition

Havent finished reading this yet but I'll leave it here:

http://www.authorama.com/principles-of-aesthetics-7.html

Current Research Concept: The Relevance Of Contemporary Print Media

Uncovering how people interact with print media and whether some of the traditional forms of print design such as street posters and magazines are still relevant to how people interact with media and understand, retain and act upon the intended message.

Possible Research Idea

For a long time I've been fascinated by this video of Fiona Banners 2010 installation at the Tate museum. It always makes me think when she draws attention to the strange relationship between the beauty of these planes and the nature of what they are designed to do.

"Some people find this aircraft so beautiful that they've asked me if it was designed with aesthetics in mind, but in fact it was designed absolutely for function and when you think that their function is to kill, that says something strange and uncomfortable about what we find beautiful." Fiona Banner

I agree that these planes do have a certain elegance and beauty. What appeals to people about the aesthetics of danger? Is there something else that contributes to the appeal of these planes?

Source: http://fionabanner.com/words/motherofbeauty.htm

"At Tate Britain the bond between weapon and ornament remains unbroken... So the instruments of grandeur and death rather ominously cuddle up to one another. They rhyme like lines in some empirical epic, which is unnerving. By letting them cohabit, of course we acknowledge that it's all about death. If we were all immortal of course we might make some beautiful things, but why would we?" Dave Hickey

An interesting look into networking, despite the suspicious ericsson sponsorship at the end.

Clive Thompson, Wired Magazine

An interesting article by Clive Thompson (written Nov 21, 2011) for Wired magazine predicts a positive future for printed books through a change in the way people interact with them. Suggesting print-it-yourself books to be the future of printed books. A future like this would place book designers in an interesting position as their skills may become in less demand.

Great video about an American letterpress studio. This video sparked the idea for looking into the future of print perhaps focusing on the audiences interaction with the physical form. Perhaps also focusing on books or posters in particular.