The Magazine is Far from Dead
Over the last few years there has been a surge of very cool magazines that have emerged. They are not exactly like the magazines of the past such as Vogue, Elle, Food & Wine but they are written more like short stories.
There is Gastronmica for food, Wilder for gardening, Kinfolk for lifestyle and others. They are all beautifully designed and surviving. The content is unique and the photography is beautiful.
I have been a magazine reader for as long as I can remember. I own the last 25 years of the September Vogue issue. We get countless magazines every month. I look forward to seeing them in the mailbox. I do get through each one. I call it useless information for my head. Pages of content that really attempt to create something that is unique. That is quite a challenge these days when everything out there is live and immediate.
Sometimes the articles are amazing and sometimes they are just ok but I still do love the ability to sit down and turn page by page to see the monthly creation of that each magazine. I know my daughters love magazines too and pick up some of the publications from overseas such as Purple.
As much as the Internet has changed so many industries, and yes the flip book has done wonders for certain magazines, it might be a challenge to keep a loyal audience in the magazine world from old school publications from Conde Nast and Harpers but the new magazines are thriving with a loyal audience. So as much as people are creating companies to move our every day world on line, their are some people putting out magazines that are changing that industry too. It is a different start-up nation but it is a start-up.
Bottom line, I am just a sucker for a good paper magazine.
Comments (Archived):
Two of my favorites are Lucky Peach and Monocle.
love both. i have been getting monocle from the first issue. ridiculously over the top but i love it.
Me too. I loved Monocle from day 1. Very global as a starting point.
Totally agree! What a treat magazines are!
I love my magazines too 🙂
Here’s the real question about the future of magazines… how many do each of your children subscribe to?
they buy many but don’t subscribe. my guess is once they settle into a post college life they will be subscribers of many.
My wife is still a fan of magazines too (I wonder if it’s a format that is more geared towards women for some reason or if it’s just because women tend to be bigger readers?).Anyway – I think magazines will continue to thrive as well…I think the big difference is that they are now more like lifestyle businesses than huge, mass-distribution, profit centers like they were pre-internet. But as long as there is true passion behind the creation (and this new breed has that in spades), I think they will continue to thrive…
supposedly the majority of “book readers” are women between 35-50 so that is probably the same for magazines.
agreed – I love a good magazine. The future for low quality grocery store pulp is probably a bit more bleak, but there will also be room for high-production food, architecture, and lifestyle magazines in my world. I’ve tried the various ‘app’ options, and online-only experiences like Lonny, and they just aren’t the same. Kindle Fire HD is probably as good as I’ve seen.What do you think about building a pinterest for magazines, so you can shoot a photo of a page and catalog what issue it came from, and have that as your quick reference. I find myself on epicurious a lot, and whenever I find a good recipe I check what issue its from, and if I have it I go and flip through the rest of the article/issue in hard copy.
good idea.
It’s on my list – along with a dozen more that I’ll probably never get to, but hopefully someone will 🙂
try doing it like sunday afternoon between 2-3. lol.
garden and gun http://gardenandgun.com/, great new one.
That is a good one
Magazines must determine whether they want to be fully immersive offline entities, or sync up with digital media.I want to see a company that develops video vignettes on stories receiving a great response. For example, if an article on Mission Chinese takes off, I want follow up videos related to the articles (an interview with Danny Bowien, customers’ favorite dishes, etc.).
I can clip and frame a New Yorker cover if I want.Try that with your Kindle or Ipad. Huh?Yep, I love my glossy mags. Even at the nail salon or the dr’s office!
BTW, Texas Monthly is far more than a local rag. The articles focus on Texas, but many topics have tackled issues that are very important but edgy for the mainstream.Check out last August’s issue on Texas legislation re abortion. An important issue, although probably not popular in many parts of Texas, although it was still in the supermarkets next to the checkout stands.Again, that’s part of the power of the printed word — anyone can pick it up and read it. No batteries required.
There’s a news magazine store on my way to work that I walk into almost daily, and I am always fascinated to browse the walls and see the beautiful magazines from all kinds of topics. It’s truly amazing to see the diversity.Yesterday, I came across this site that lets you browse tons of Magazines online. Check it out: http://issuu.com/explore