For my recent industry report i contacted Jeremy Leslie at Magculture, if your new to this name check it out very good blog . lots of interesting stuff, great reviews and some design gems for magazine. If paper weights and printing techniques float your boat get on this: http://magculture.com/blog. Anyway here is the interview in full.
Q1// Do you think the price of print in comparison to digital will affect the future of print?
Price will be a factor but you might be surprised at exactly what the affect of price could be. For instance, its never been as cheap to set up a fully fucntioning website as some people suppose, and currently to create a bespoke magazine app for the iPad of any level of creativity is far from being a cheap excercise. Of course, once created, the reproduction and distribution of digital content is cheaper than print but production can quickly exceed that of print.
Q2// How are technological developments affecting print? Why do people want to use gadgets like the ipad?
Print has benefitted enormously from tech advancement in recent years. Print quality has improved and become cheaper, as have special effects like foilblock. The internet has aided distribution, making it far easier for a smal magazine to reach out internationally. The enthusiasm to communicate has been catalized by blogs, and as people gain their voice they turn to print as the next stage. There remains something more important about print, it lends weight– not just to me and my generation but to others: Its Nice That being a good example.
Tablets promise ease of use: carrying several novels at once on a small electronic device is easier when traveling by tube, bus or plane. But by the pool? I don't think so. Reading magazines? Dificult at this stage, there aren't really any BIG magazines available.
Why do people want the iPad? It's the latest gadget, and following the iPod and iPhone there's a hungry customer base. They will find, however, that despite the overall gorgeousness of the device, there's little beyond the internet available to it at present. That will change, but its very different from buying an iPod and immediately being able to rip your CD collection, or sync your iPhone to your email contacts.
Q3// What is print good for? What is digital good for?
Print can provide a carefully-paced and engaging content experience that at its best can strike a balance between leading the reader and letting him/her lead. It is not immediate, but has the benefit of time and reflection. The page size, number of pages, balance between picture and text, design of thr layouts and choices of typeface are endlessly variable but once set are constant.
Digital can provide immediacy, giving the reader access to the latest news and information. But it will lack depth of hierarchy and lack major design control. At best it will be legible, interogatable, and filterable. But one digital experience will be very simialr to another in visual tone, according to your browser settings.
Q4// Which audience are both mediums aimed towards? Is print more of a luxury? Is digital more suited to the economy end of the market?
Its not as simple as that; a copy of the Guardian costs £1; for that you get a complete overview of national and international news, financial and sports news, features, etc. There is no other cost. Or you can look at their webiste for 'free'. Free, assuming you have a computer and have paid for internet access. For most of us in UK either is an option – or both. But for many parts of the world, internet acces itself rmeians a luxury.
Who buys iPhones? not the poorer sectors of society, thats for sure. And the iPad? There are real issues of access here, as parts of governement have given up printed comms in favour of digital. For a large minority that's a very real problem.
Digital, then is not automatically a cheap/democratic option.
Q5// What do you see as the future for both mediums?
That said, their respective futures would seem to reflect your statement: print will ecome more about speciality finishes and effects and therefore more luxury. So, perhaps, Vogue is still printed, but Grazia is digital. At the same time, cheaper more mainstream publications (Heat?) will remain printed as their readership will not be digitally focussed for some time.
