Critical study Reflection of production & practice
Fig 1: Village, Leeds. Sophie Hales (2018)
Sophie Hales Word count: 1092
This report will examine the production of working in the magazine industry, briefly looking into the past, present and future of publishing, whilst reflecting on first-hand experience working in a creative publishing agency; Spoiled Nation. Magazines can be dated way back to early seventeen hundreds, when Edward Cave, an Englishman, published a periodical aimed at men called, ‘The Gentleman’s Guide’. Cave’s intension was to provide a monthly digest of news and commentary that no gentleman could afford to miss. The publication went on to became one of the most successful magazines ever issued (Miller and McNeil, 2018).
Fig 2: ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine’ (1748 cited Whittaker, 2008, p.5) 2
Since then, magazines have transformed a vast amount. Traditionally magazines have been printed periodicals most commonly published weekly, monthly or quarterly (Holmes and Nice, 2011). In terms of their physical format, most publications on stands are approximately A4 in size and a few in A5, however the volume and paper quality of magazines can vary enormously. Often magazines known as ‘glossies’, are printed on highquality shiny paper with professional photography and full colour on most, if not all pages. Brands like Vogue use high quality paper to reinforce the quality of their brand. As consumers we love to have physical interaction with printed copies, they allows us to touch, look and even smell the magazine. However, the rise in of digital technology has been a major turning point for the magazine industry and altered the way consumers interact with magazines. In the past decade, the developments of technology have produced a new art of publication that is completely managed in digital technology (Wardhania et al., 2015). Increasingly consumers are choosing to swap their print copies and read electronic magazine or ‘e-zines’ through technologies such as the internet, phones and tablets. Digital publications are different to print due to their multimedia capabilities bringing together video, picture and interactive writing content, which has caused a great decline in print magazines. 3
In order to successfully publish a magazine one must understand the practice behind the production of a magazine. Some magazines such as Vogue, are large operations with high circulations and employee levels to match, however others are smaller businesses like Spoiled Nation that consist of smaller teams that often share responsibilities for editorial and design elements. Spoiled Nation is a small digital and print publication, based at male and female readers, aged 18-35 year olds. The production of the magazine was aligned as closely as possible to an industry standard workflow (Whittaker, 2008). This gave the Spoiled Nation department a true insight into how a small agency is run. Figure 1 represents Whittaker’s theory of a typical editorial structure of a magazine, Spoiled Nation aligned the production of their magazine to the workflow identified by Whittaker (2008). The editorial team assigned roles, such as print / digital editors and production directors based upon their previous editorial skills. As mentioned before Spoiled Nation is a smaller publication, therefore the whole agency acted as editors, each week a different member of the Spoiled Nation team would ensure all written content for the print and digital versions were sub-edited to a professional standard. Subeditors would check for grammar and spelling mistakes, ensured all hyperlinks on digital versions were correctly working and the layouts of the print articles were consistent. 4
Fig 3: Whittaker’s Typical Editorial Structure of a Magazine (2008)
Editor-in-cheif: Sarah Cooper
Deputy editors: Melissa & Elisha
Print editors: Week 1: Melissa Week 2: Marie-Claire Week 3: Kat & Faye Week 4: Heidi & Beth Week 5: Jess L & Ellie K Week 6: Jess B & Adam
Digital editors: Week 1: Elisha Week 2: Emily Week 3: Olivia D & Olivia W Week 4: James & Lois Week 5: Sophie & Katie Week 6: Olivia J & Sarah
Fig 4: Sophie Hales (2019) ‘Spoiled Nation’s Structure of a Magazine’. Adapted from Whittaker (2008) 5
The role of the editor-in-chief is extremely important to any magazine publication. Along with excellent writing and communication skills, it should also not be forgotten that editing is also a management role (Whittaker, 2008). A magazine will rely on role of the editor for leadership, acting as the main figurehead to bridge between each department (McKay, 2013). Spoiled Nation assigned the editor-in-chief as Sarah Cooper, who has holds years of experience working in journalism and the publishing industry. Sarah became responsible for designating all editing roles below chief editor to the Spoiled Nation team, deciding on deadline dates and also choosing the theme and values of the magazine. For Spoiled Nation having an editor-in-chief meant the team could work efficiently and to a high industry standard. Within any role in the publishing industry there will be demanding deadlines, whether you are a small content writer to the editor-in-chief, to have a successful career you must be able to work to tight deadlines. Over 6 weeks Spoiled Nation where set weekly deadlines for the publication, the team could either choose to develop content for print or online. To critically evaluate this process, working towards a deadline allowed the writers to understand the demanding pressures of working in the publishing industry. However, some of the content produced was sometimes rushed by the writers who were getting to grips with working to a deadline and on a few occasions some writers did not submit work, in the real industry this would have a devastating impact on both the professionalism of the magazine brand. 6
A magazine’s house style can be a significant factor to developing a well-established and smooth running publication. Although, the content writers had a strong idea of the themes the magazine covered and produced high levels of interesting and engaging content, often, the content creators would adopt different writing styles and techniques which in an existing magazine would leave a poor level of continuity throughout. This also affected the layout of the magazine, due to the inconsistent house style often some of the layout artists would adopt a fresh and clean looking article design, whereas some would create messy and abstract looking layouts. In a successful publication like Elle, a proofing team would ensure the layout of each article was consistent by checking for colour accuracy and typography mistakes (Whittaker, 2008). Understanding the shift in magazine publishing, the Spoiled Nation team decided to offer a publication where consumers can choose to read a printed copy or access the magazine online. It was also important to use the development in technology to create an online presence for the magazine; Spoiled Nation used social media platforms such as; Instagram and Twitter, to connect with their audience on a more personal and intimate level. (Greenwood, 2008). Whittaker (2008) argues the importance of online presence as it helps drive brand awareness.
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The role This ofreport the editor-in-chief will examineisthe extremely production important of working to in any magazine the magazine publication. industry, Along briefly with looking excellent intowriting the past, and communication present andskills, future it of should publishing, also notwhilst be forgotten reflecting that onediting is alsofirst-hand a management experience role (Whittaker, working in2008). a creative A magazine publishing will rely on role agency; of the Spoiled editor for Nation. leadership, acting as the main figurehead to bridge between each department (McKay, 2013). Magazines can be dated way back to early seventeen The future hundreds, landscapes when of Edward publication Cave, will an Englishman, certainly continue published to move awith periodical the advances aimed in at technology men called,which ‘The Gentleman’s could further the decline Guide’ in print. . Cave’s Consumers intensionwill wascontinue to provide to ademand monthly engaging digest content of with newsaccessible and commentary and interactive that no media, gentleman however, couldeven if the print affordindustry to miss. becomes The publication an extremely went on small to became sectionone of publishing of theitmost will never successful ‘completely’ magazines die ever out, issued due to (Miller the niche and that enjoys McNeil, physically 2018). feeling, smelling and reading a printed publication. To conclude, the publishing industry has changed a dramatic amount over the past few decades, moving from traditional print methods to the rise of digital publications. The purpose of creating Spoiled Nation offered the team a true insight into the environment of working in a magazine agency. Following the ideologies of theorist such as Whittaker (2008) allowed a successful workflow within the organisation and offered a structured editorial team. Spoiled Nation used the shift in the magazine industry to ensure the brand was current and accessible to consumers by offering both digital and print copies and also marketing on social media platforms. However, other aspects of the agency could be improved for future practice; the team would ensure art direction and house style was fully understood across the board in order to create a magazine with continuity throughout. 8
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Bibliography Greenwood, G. (2008) Fashion Marketing Communications. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing. Holmes, T. and Nice, L. (2011) Magazine Journalism. United States: SAGE. p.4-30. McKay, J. (2013) The Magazines Handbook. United Kingdom: Routledge. Miller, S. and McNeill P. (2018) Fashion Journalism: History, Theory and Practice. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury. Sumner, D., and Rhoades, S. (2006) Magazines: A Complete Guide to the Industry. United Kingdom: Peter Lang Publishing. Wardhania, A., Sabanab, S. and Adriati, I. (2015) The Shift from Printed to Digital Magazine and Its Impact to Women Reader in Jakarta. Indonesia: Elsevier. Whittaker (2008) Magazine Production. United Kingdom: Routledge.
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ThisFigures report will examine the production of working in List of
the magazine industry, briefly looking into the past, present and future of publishing, whilst reflecting on Fig 1: Sophie Hales (2018) ‘Village Store Shelves, Leeds’ [Taken: first-hand experience working in a creative publishing 28th November 2018) agency; Spoiled Nation. Fig 2: ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine’ (1748 cited Whittaker, Magazines can be dated way back to early seventeen 2008, p.5) Magazine Production. United Kingdom: Routledge. hundreds, when Edward Cave, an Englishman, published [Accessed: 1st January 2019] a periodical aimed at men called, ‘The Gentleman’s Guide’. Cave’s intension was to provide a monthly digest Fig 3: Whittaker’s Typical Editorial Structure of a Magazine of news and commentary that no gentleman could (2003) Magazine Production. United Kingdom: Routledge. afford to miss. The publication went on to became one [Accessed: 1st January 2019] of the most successful magazines ever issued (Miller and McNeil, 2018). Fig 4: Sophie Hales (2019) ‘Spoiled Nation’s Structure of a Magazine’. Adapted from Whittaker’s Typical Editorial Structure of a Magazine (2008) [Produced: 2nd January 2019]
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