MAGAZINE EDITORIALS The golden age of magazines The 1980’s/1990’s set the trend for colour palettes, with bright primary, contrasting blocks inspiring magazines of the future. We still see this design recipe today with popular soap, news and gossip magazines.
1990’s
Launched late 90’s, Jane displayed irreverent sense of humour that set it apart from other magazines and set a trend to stand out. Sky was also unusual as appealed to both sexes equally, was quite sex obsessed, but in a fur rather than leering way. Loaded also began as a music based magazine but as an opportunity opened up for the men’s magazine market, it developed into just another babe-worshipping lads mag.
Time was the first weekly news magazine in the US, set to tell the news through people and depicting a single figure on the front a visual which stuck on covers for years to follow. The New-Yorker focused on the sophisticated life in the city, also reporting on political and cultural issues which began a trend for hybrid products.
In 1997, FHM took over Loaded as the biggest selling men’s mag, holding this until Men’s Health took the title in 2009. With new markets opening, gaming mags also gained popularity after Playstation launched in 1995, swiftly becoming the biggest selling gaming magazine ever. By the end of the decade was selling similar statistics to FHM.
1980’s
Moving from bold blue layered shadows of the mid-80’s, women’s mags shifted towards a bronzer, terra cotta-toned eye and fuchsia lip, altering fashion into the 90’s.