The image above is from a magazine called Vu, published in 1930. It is part of a collection at the International Center of Photography museum in New York.
I attended a marketing department meeting the other day. All members of the department are required to attend. I was there because the Creative Services department, where I've been doing a job shadow for the past couple of weeks, come under the marketing jurisdiction.
I didn't realise how many marketing people there were in the company. ScaRY!
Being marketing all the presenters were very good at public speaking and their presentations were equally as good. There was a howler that NOBODY ELSE NOTICED. An e-direct marketing person made a presentation and began by saying that everybody should have received an email entry for a prize draw, but unfortunately they used the wrong list so not everybody would have received it. WAHAHAHAHAHA! I couldn't believe it!
If you've ever been briefed by a marketing person, you'll appreciate the following vid. I first saw this last night sitting on a (delayed) train on my iPhone on the Debbie Millman blog. Hilarious.
Apparently there IS a term for the use of non-alphabet characters to indicate swearing. Read here if you want to know what it is!
Interesting sites
A couple of interesting (and useful sites): Redesign:related is a visual listing of redesigns and refreshes. The Newseum is visual directory of the day's newspaper front covers from around the world.
Net Neutrality
What could be a worrying trend for users of the Internet is highlighted here. It discusses the prospect that big media companies, backed by big telecom companies, would like to see the Internet move away from a neutral stance whereby anybody is free to publish to the web. It could end with a two-speed Internet with the big corporations having access to the fast lane and everybody else would be relegated to the slow lane.
A note about this blog
If you have anything to say about any of the posts, pleeeease comment. Just click on the Comments link at the bottom of each entry.
Links to related articles or reference are in bold within the post.
If you have any idesign-related item that may be interest to other readers (yes, I have quite a few now) please let me know.
I've been thinking about those RBI magazines that share the same templates. A few people have commented to me about how "terrible" it is that this is happening. For who? The readers? I've been told it is very unlikely that the readers will view more than one of these magazines. As long as the design is imparting the information in an effective (and attractive) manner, does it matter that they look the same?
What about the editorial designers? I mentioned in the original post that it was not so different from web design. A lot of websites are very similar in look and feel. Ones of a similar function, anyway – news or shopping, for example. A lot of the design is dictated by browser-type and the type of machine and connection speed. It is still difficult to specify a font (unless it is a Flash-based site), you can say serif or san-serif, but little more.
It is up to editorial designers to gain new skills and influence the way things are going. Instead of watching the mundane work disappear, we should be demonstrating and emphasizing the value of good design.
It's no consolation, but similar arguments are happening about photography and journalism. The traditional role of the journalist is being challenged, as is the role of the sub-editor. While it appears that subs are doing a designers job on Computer Weekly, the opposite is happening elsewhere.
In these ever-changing times, it is better to dance on a moving carpet than to stand still and have the rug pulled from under you.
Something else
On a different note, here's an interesting article about internet English and typography from Virginia Heffernan in the New York Times.
An interesting development in B2B magazine design took place a few weeks ago. Three magazines in three different markets were redesigned and launched to a silent fanfare.
The magazines, Computer Weekly, Electronics Weekly and Microscope, were designed at RBI UKs Creative department by editorial design manager Soo Abram. The brief was to make the magazines a must-read companion to the websites.
The rationale for the same design for all three magazines? Well, it's easier for the production desk to put the magazines together as one team works on all three mags. It is thought that it is unlikely that a reader would purchase more than one of the mags, so wouldn't notice the similarity. Oh, and the redesign costs would be smaller – think about it, one design:three magazines. One other thing: the production desk consists entirely of layout subeditors, not one trained designer there.
The formulaic approach works for these titles: rigid templates and style sheets are in place; and everything is squared up. Not so different from a website or blog...
How far can this one-size-fits-all approach go? It would be an interesting to see Lady Magazine and Mens Health with the same treatment, or even Horse & Hound and Playboy!
