OUGD601 RESEARCH INTO CASE STUDY 2

This second case study will be examining the effects that the digital era has had on print in magazine publishing. It will be having a look at if print is truly dead due to this or if in fact, print and digital work perfectly together in aiding both their goals. When reading (Moser, H. 20016, The Art Directors’ Handbook of Professional Magazine Design, London, Thames & Hudson Ltd) I became aware of Cut - Leute machen Kleider (‘People Make Clothes’) magazine. This magazine released its first issue with zero digital aid, no website or social media handles. They distributed their magazine throughout stockists in Europe and had their name passed around blog pages until the first issue sold out and then exactly same with the reprint. “Even without the power of marketing and advertising, the first print run sold very quickly, and the reprint soon to follow suit. The magazine was lauded in the media and won a plethora of design awards.” (Moser, H. 2003, pg.52) To this day, Cut magazine still operates within a very analogue process without any digital support whatsoever. This proves a theory that perhaps print is not dead, if this magazine has survived the last ten years of the digital revolution by sticking to its hand made roots.

In high contrast to this point, Rosa Park of Cereal magazine believes that print and digital are equally as important as each other in the great succession of a magazine. “If you’re a printed magazine, having an online presence in essential. At the very least, it’s a quick reference point for readers, and it could also be an important partner to the magazine in terms of content." “Publishing online can build a loyal readership, some of whom can be translated into customers of a printed publication” (Lewis, A. 2016, So you want to publish a magazine?, London, Lawrence King Publishing, pg.13) It is interesting to see how these different magazines function in this era and reverting back to my previous blog (OUGD601 PRIMARY RESEARCH) Eye On Design have also stated that their printed magazine run would have never existed without the help of their digital platform and the readers they gained there before going print.