Great summary from It’s Nice That: “A magazine is a very personal item – like ice cream you’re never going to like all the flavours, and there’s always one or two that you always find yourself leaning back towards. Those that we seem to have more affinity for either hold a certain shot of nostalgia (The Face / Nova), a good dose of quality writing and original features (Wired / 032C) and of course a mention should be made to the independents (Little White Lies). It seems as though popular opinion would suggest that in the age of mass consumption through the internet, we look to our printed friends more for niche information and as company, rather than a quick fix of small snippets. When we pick up a magazine we want something a little more special than the process of consuming a web article, it should be a (pleasurable) physical experience, not just a literary one. It seems as though the editors with that in mind will continue to survive, and perhaps even thrive.” Via
We live in a publishing society: Mercedes Bunz about the Social Media Count. “When the internet became a mainstream medium, we described it as a “pull” medium opposed to TV, which was a “push” medium. But since social media has got popular there is more to it: after push and pull comes publish.”
Peter H. Barnett: Can You Tell Me How What You Are Doing Now Is To Do Something Philosophical?, 1980
Erin Cosgrove: The Baader-Meinhof Affair, 2002; Martin Kippenberger (mit Werner Büttner, Albert Oehlen und Markus Oehlen): Wer diesen Katalog nicht gut findet muß sofort zum Arzt, 1983
Is this the future of print media? “In the latest example of finding media innovation where you’d least expect it, CBS is embedding a video player in a print ad in Entertainment Weekly that will serve up a buffet of its fall TV lineup”, reports Wired. The CBS foray into a print-digital alliance plays full-motion video at a crisp resolution. The ad, dubbed by CBS and partner Pepsi Max “the first-ever VIP (video-in-print) promotion”, works like one of those audio greeting cards. Opening the page activates the player, which is a quarter-inch–thick screen seen through a cutaway between two pages concealing the larger circuit board underneath.” Via
I am a huge fan of all kind of kiosks - i am just fascinated by this urban structures and i simply would love to have my own GuteSeiten-Kiosk in Hamburg. And then i found this great article about kiosks at popupcity - but first some models as an appetizer:
Designer Thomas Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio has completed a series of brass newspaper kiosks in London. Via
Salakauppa-Kiosk from the design agency Company in Helsinki
KiosKiosk in London is a project which offers small kiosk space to creative start-ups, like artists and fashion designers for free - supported by the London Sustainable Development Commission
“Kioskisierung” research project from Berlin-based urbanism agency Raumlabor - they also did a manual on how to start a kiosk
“Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Its name is derived from the Ottoman word ‘köşk’, which refers to “an old Ottoman style building, made of wood and clad with metal stones, (…) mainly used as a (…) recreational residence for the wealthy.” The Turkish brought the kiosk to Europe during the 18th century, and it developed itself into the typical booths like we know them these days. On one hand kiosks service the metropolitan lifestyle and contribute to social security and the quality of the city itself by providing goods on the street. On the other hand, kiosks are being rediscovered by new groups and are considered useful for contemporary urban design as it’s very easy to ‘plug’ into a city. It’s very flexible and pops up instantly.” (*)
Marcus Bösch wrote a great text about the future of print and GuteSeiten for Deutsche Welle (sorry, german only): “Lang lebe das bedruckte Papier: Die New York Times wird immer dünner. Die Zeitungslandschaft immer karger. Immer weniger Menschen lesen Nachrichten auf Papier. Komisch, dass junge Kreative weltweit trotzdem munter immer neue Magazine basteln.”
* “NZ/Australian magazine store Magnation have just launched a magazine blog promising views on ‘the magazine industry and how it translates through to consumers from a retail and brand perspective.” Via
There’s much we can learn from good journalism. It’s mid May and in it’s last issue NEWSWEEK does a special report on travelling and tourism. This a clever move; in the mist of this crisis there are a lot of people that can still spend some of their money on a vacation. Just in case that some readers can’t afford a trip aboard, NEWSWEEK also does a story on staying at home and it even has a piece on the perils of having friends invited to spend some days with you at a family house.
Why do I mention this? Well, most publications only run the travel/holiday issues closer to summer. On the other hand, this is a special year with everybody worried with recessions and debts and mortgages and savings.
By reporting on vacations NEWSWEEK might even help it’s readers to make up their mind about taking a little risk and go ahead with some travelling. The first line of the special report reads ‘We need a vacation more than ever’. But there’s also another thing that really interests me and that is the planning and thinking that goes into making this kind of editorial choices. The risks taken in running a special report on travelling when they do a cover story on the flu – and this has broaden people’s fear of travelling – along side some stories on the crisis itself.
There is only one way that any publication can face the coming years and that’s by investing in some changes and making a lot of trial and errors experiences.
What does it take for a product to sell? Besides an infinity of things, there two that are most important: need and desire. Another couple of questions: why is mainstream media in so much trouble? Because people don’t need it anymore (there’s a lot of all-you-can-eat-information on the net) and most publications are far from being desirable. The last question: why do independent magazines sell? The answer for this is quite obvious but I would love to read your comments here.
The problem with most newspapers across the globe today is that their editors are too ‘closed minded’ to see past the 70’s. People simply don’t need an ‘old’ newspaper anymore. By the time someone gets out to buy the day’s newspaper all the breaking news have been heard or seen or read on a screen.
Do I believe that this is the end of print age? Not really, not even the end of newspapers. What every newsroom must do (and this is asking a lot) is to find the ‘iphone effect’ on their publication. What must one publish to transform the boring, not-needed, old publication into a desire object? Find this and you’ll be publishing a very successful ‘old medium’.
To start – and you MUST start now – you can see a lot of independent magazines and fanzines. Really see and read them. And then start trying; as design thinking can teach you, this is an on going process, a trial and error curve. It’s a fun path to travel and one every reader will appreciate.
What makes a publication desirable? Creativity! Innovation! What makes Monocle magazine ‘sail’ past this crisis is the fact that; not only it’s beautifully written and designed; but also because every page is full of good ideas, of news that you might not even consider to be interested in before reading it. That’s creativity working on a newsroom, to find the different story, the different approach to an ‘old’ story.
The only way to become the object of desire for an audience is to give them your most, all of your sweat and tears on a daily bases. Desire is having every reader eager for the next issue. That’s our goal – for everybody working on a newsroom – and the public has already told us that what we have been doing so far is not working.
Like Apple going back to the drawing board to reinvent the phone, newsrooms must reinvent communication with an audience. To do so, creativity and innovation are the recipes and everyone’s brilliant minds are the ingredients. Working together for something desirable.
Finally we are celebrating our official launch: Join us at the
“Checkdisout #2“-panel (Kunstverein Hamburg, Klosterwall 23, Hamburg; 26th may, 19:30) about New Publishing - new media trends and magazine culture. We will organize a reading lounge and exhibition with the very best magazines from our GuteSeiten-Zinothek. And now the long version in german: “Die klassischen Medien befinden sich im freien Fall: Auflagen und Anzeigenerlöse schrumpfen kontinuierlich, erste Massenentlassungen bei allen großen Medienkonzernen waren die Folge. Auch das letzte Ass im Ärmel – die Onlinemedien – versprechen keine Besserung. Themenblogs, monothematische Magazine bis hin zur tatsächlich individualisierten Zeitung, die Nischen werden immer spezieller – Blogs, RSS-Feeds, PDF-Magazine, Fanzines … Wer behält da noch den Überblick? Wer sorgt für eine verlässliche Vorauswahl der Inhalte? Der Leser? Die Community? Ein Algorithmus? Der Redakteur? Oder ist der längst tot? Führt kein Weg mehr aus der Krise? Checkdisout #2 New Publishing präsentiert innovative Blattmacher, Onlinetrends und zukunftsweisende Medienprojekte. Wir diskutieren mit Machern und Enthusiasten über ihre Arbeit, die Kunst, die aus der Nische kam, Brot und Wasser und natürlich vor allem eins: Inhalte! Sprecher: Alain Bieber (GuteSeiten, Art Magazin); Alexander Böker (Chesley); Verena Dauerer (Ex-Pingmag, Page); Jan Mueller-Wiefel (Gudberg), Markus Peichl (LeadAcademy); Moderation Daniel Schoeps.” Curious? Then book your ticket here.
