Green is in and April is the month to celebrate anything and everything green. Well, Creative Review magazine took the celebration one step further. The April issue of the magazine has just published with no cover. Yes, it starts on page 3, the table of contents. The magazine is sold in a plastic bag and an explanation: “This magazine has no cover: In the spirit of making the most of limited resources, the bag that this issue comes in is dual-use. It both protects the magazine on its journey to you (the buyer) and acts as the cover. Result: 8700 sheets of our normal cover stock saved.” Inside the magazine Patrick Burgoyne, CR’s editor goes at length to explain the reasoning behind what they did and reaches the climax of the explanation when he asks and answers himself the following question: “If you really care that much about the environment why use up all these resources publishing the magazine at all? Why not put it all on a website? We did. You can download this and every issue of CR as a PDF from www.e-cr.co.uk. ECR provides all the content without any of the paper, ink or chemicals, with a fraction of the energy and no physical distribution.” Go figure. If that is the case, why pay 5.70 British pounds for the printed magazine?
Archive for the ‘Across the Pond’ Category
A magazine with no cover… and other interesting facts
March 24, 2007What is in common among Monkey, Zoo and Nuts?*
March 23, 2007
The above three are magazines aimed at young men. They are referred to as Lad magazines. Monkey, Zoo and Nuts are all weeklies and all are published in the UK. One is digital and two are ink on paper and on-line. Read what my friend Jeremy (magculture.com) learned at a recent presentation by the editors of Monkey.
*Monkey hates the Zoo and eats Nuts.
A Tale of Two Papers
March 23, 2007
Those of you who follow my blog may have noticed that I referred to the British Independent paper twice in the last few days. Well a lot of the blog readers seem to be The Guardian readers too. I am also a Guardian reader and can’t wait to head back to the States to scan some of their G2 daily magazines inside the paper. The main reason I love, and what my blog readers hate, is the cover story approach of The Independent. Take today’s cover story about the British budget and compare that front page with that of The Guardian. Somehow, one stops you faster than the other. I will let you be the judge which one stops you first.
Define Luxury, one magazine at a time
March 21, 2007
A brand new weekly, with a spine, just launched in the UK. The name is So London, the tag-line is “The New Glossy Weekly/ Culture. Property. Shameless Luxury” and the magazine, according to my friend in the UK Jeremy Leslie is “designed smartly for it’s market but is let down by not being as upmarket and luxurious as it aspires to be”… It is indeed a coffe table book that will arrive every week at your doorsteps. Luxury magazines are not something new… weekly luxury magazines are going to be soon the trend of the future. So London magazine is just the beginning. And talking about soon and luxury, SOON magazine just landed with its hefty first issue, both in terms of pages and price ($70 US) and, if you really want to know, give a new meaning to the world luxury. Published in three languages (English, Chinese and French) the magazine defines luxury as “the light of a behavior, a force making beauty wiser for today and tomorrow. It permits one to understand that learning is needed to give spirit to matter.” Be prepared to use both hands when buying this magazine. It is luxuriously heavy.
A kid in a candy store
March 21, 2007
Just landed in London City airport on a four-day trip to the UK. My first stop World News newsstands at the terminal. Pushing two bags and holding five newspapers and ten magazines, I looked and felt like a kid in a candy store. Every time I visit the London I can’t wait to wake up to buy the papers…their content will surprise me every single day. Take a look at today’s Independent… a single front-page story telling you the 50 Reasons to Love the EU. I said it and I will say it again, the problem with our newspapers in America is not the ink on paper, it is the message that they carry. More on that later, and on the rest of my catch of the day in the UK.
Amelia’s magazine: glows in the dark and daytime…
March 19, 2007
Amelia Gregory has been publishing, editing and designing Amelia’s magazine for six issues so far. The latest issue of the British magazine (feels and looks more like a book-a-zine or Mook) comes with a glow in the dark cover and a hefty 10 British Pounds cover price (almost $16.00)
The magazine is worth every penny, British or American. The contents stand apart from a lot of other magazines that I’ve seen and the design is second to none. Artistic and playful in its looks, intelligent and meaty in its content. Make sure to check Amelia’s trip to China and her coverage of that country. If you are in the mood for something from across the pond, Amelia’s will be a great choice for you this week. Enjoy
The Future of Newspapers: Daily Magazines
March 18, 2007
Last Sunday I told CBS News Sunday Morning that the problem with newspapers in this country is not in the medium but in the message. The newspapers have become predictable with no elements of surprise. They lost their wow factor and their relevance. Unlike the European papers which began reinventing themselves into daily magazines, witness The (British) Independent with its cover story and in depth analysis. As Time magazine leads the newsweeklies in changing to a weekly glossy magazine, so should the newspapers change to daily magazines. Chasing the news does not belong on paper anymore… tomorrow’s papers should be Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, In Touch Weekly, and Business Week all in one on a daily basis. Newsrooms in this country must wake up and see the future now… I am glad that Time is the first major newsweekly leading the change of the category. The big question is who is going to be the daring first major newspaper to learn from our friends across the pond and lead the change…And just in case you’ve missed my debate in NYC with Bo Sacks, Patrick Henry wrote a good review of the debate on PrintCEOblog.com
Mr. Magazine 