Eco-friendly Weddings…

It is the season to be eco friendly…everywhere you look Green is the color of the day. Now comes another eco-friendly magazine…just for weddings (thanks Emily for the hint). Portovert, “the first and only eco-savvy magazine for brides and grooms” has published two digital issues so far that can be seen here. I remember when they used to teach us in school that the sky is the limit, now, I guess your web browser is the limit…the only problem is unlike print, it is a little, well make that a lot, harder to be discovered on the web than in print (unless, your name starts with Condé Nast… then it is no problem.) Do not be quick to misunderstand me, I am NOT saying it is easy to be discovered in print… it is just a little bit easier than the web…

Magazine Lovers Unite and Enjoy…

The blogs are uniting magazine lovers from all over the world. Last week when I wrote about Rosie, the new Swedish magazine, the folks at vassaeggen filled in the blanks for me… The same happens all the time with the German Slanted blog and the British blogs that are listed on my blogroll. The latest magazine blog comes from The Netherlands (via my friend Jeremy’s Mag Culture blog in England) and it is called Bladblog. It joins another blog I am very familiar with in Holland aimed at Customer Media. It is a shame that, I for one, can’t speak or read most of these languages, however, the illustrations and pictures that are posted on the blogs will give you quite a good idea about how vibrant our magazine world is. Unite, look, and you don’t have to read to enjoy.

Can you be ahead of the times?

So it seems. When Reader’s Digest published Families magazine back in the early 80s, they were able to produce a very high class, good looking magazine. However advertisers were slow to come and the magazine folded. Years later Family Fun, Wonder Time and Cookie are doing what Families did and indeed succeeding where Families failed. The same is true with Rodale’s Organic Style, they were ahead of the times and died before organic became the in thing. Although Rodale continues to publish Organic Gardening, but it fails to offer something to write home about today. Now enter Organic Spa, take two growing categories and merge them in one magazine and you get a magazine that hopes to capture the times, not behind nor ahead, just in time. Hoping to combine Spirit, Sustainability and Soul the new magazine launched to “serve the growing number of consumers committed to integrating personal wellbeing with an environmentally sustainable lifestyle.” The quarterly is published by Oceans Publishing Company and is available year round through a web-based digital edition that you can see here. The magazine follows the latest trend of splash pages to introduce its different sections and to help the readers navigate easier through the content. The four main sections of the magazine are At Home, At Work, At Play and At Rest. Pick up a copy and enjoy it at home, or at work, or at play or even at rest. Have some organic fun today.

Where do reporters get their facts?

My friend Rex Hammock alerted me to a news story in the Financial Times where reporter Joshua Chaffin writes, “In the history of US magazine launches, the high point may have been August 1999, when Tina Brown’s magazine debuted.” I guess his definition of history is the 1990s or 1999 to be specific. He goes on to write, “These days, new magazine launches — let alone big-budget events — are few and far between.” Well, if he just bothered and checked the facts he will find out that we publish now-a-days more magazines than we did at any other period of the history of American magazines. Even if you exclude the specials and one shots, here are some of the numbers of new magazine launches going back to 1984. Keep in mind these are all new magazine launches with at least four time launch frequency. Starting in 1984 the numbers are 134, 203, 299, 300, 284, starting in 1990 the numbers are 325, 363, 443, 417, 458, 510, 535,459, 518,360 and starting in 2000 the numbers are 333, 301, 290, 454, 473, 350, and 332 in 2006. There is no need to explain any of these numbers. I think they speak for themselves. I hope reporters, especially those in the print media, stop promoting the myth of print is dead and no one is doing anything in print any more…. Just give the story due diligence and go visit a newsstands first or a post office and then tell me print is dead…

Hot and New this week…take 3

Once a week, I highlight three new magazines on my web site http://www.mrmagazine.com. This week the three new magazines are Road Bike Action Magazine, Toddler and The World of Rods. Read here about these new launches. To be considered for review on my web site, please send a copy of your first issue to Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Department of Journalism, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677.

When Digital Marries Print: The Result, A Wonderful JPG

So can ink on paper and pixels on a screen live happily ever after. Well, here is an example of a publication that shows that when pixels on the screen marry the ink on paper, the result will be the creation of a community that interacts with each other and that have connectivity and usefulness second to none. To take from the words of its founders: There are magazines, and then there are magazines and then there’s JPG. And they couldn’t be more right. JPG took the mold of an industry model and completely smashed it, proving that technology is not the enemy to print as all the prophets of doom and gloom preach. Read my interview with founder Derek Powazek here.

The magic of numbers…

It never ceases to amaze me how much we love numbers and lists. You give me a list and I am reading it from number one to number 399. You tell me there is 101 (somehow, odd numbers always work better than even) ideas to improve my home, and I start reading. But the questions that I always ask myself are the following: When those numbers exceed a certain amount, let’s say a 1001, how many continue reading or care? What is your limit? And, further more, have you ever taken a magazine to task to proof to you that the numbers on the cover are in there? Take for example the new issue of Women’s Health. The May issue sports a cover line that says, “2263 Amazing New Health, Sex, Fitness & Nutrition Tips.” Well, what are you waiting, go grab a copy of the May issue and start counting. It will be interesting to see how much more time you are going to spend with the magazine doing that. It may become addictive, you will fall in love with the magazine, and they will gain a reader forever…

A Swedish Rosie magazine is born…

I do not know what is the reason for this flurry of European new magazine titles trying to either revive titles that have come and gone in the States such as George, or the use of proper names for their new magazines following the footsteps of O, the Oprah magazine. I know it is not a new trend to name the magazine after a proper name, but the recent increase in this trend is what caught my attention. The Dutch have their Linda and Catherine, The Finns have their Sara and Olivia, and the Swedes have Laura, M and now Rosie… However as much as I can tell, the Swedish Rosie is a new magazine for outdoor living, and if you can speak Swedish you can read all about it here, or for more info about Rosie and other Sewdish magazines click here to read the comments in English from vassaeggen.se (thanks for the info folks)…I hope they have a better luck dealing with the outdoors rather than the indoors and the courts….

True Green…True Digital

Just so you would not think that the whole magazine world has ceased to exit because of CN Portfolio’s launch, I have some other news to report on. The folks at Green*Light magazine sent me an e-mail earlier today to present their magazine to me “as an example of (what we think is) great digital magazine presentation. We are interested in Monkey too and think it brings great visibility to the digital magazine genre, but like ours better.” Green*Light magazine launched in 2005 and has completed five issues in digital format so far. I visited the magazine site and flipped through the pages of the latest issue and liked what I saw. Relevant content, and relevant design, all in a made-for-digital format. The size of the type is good, the amount of words are great for the screen, and the pictures are right for pixels on the screen. However, what the magazine lacks is the interactivity and the movement Monkey magazine and other similar platforms offer on the web. A good start and a good “put your money where your mouth is,” but you need to check it for yourself here.

Thank God Condé Nast Portfolio is a monthly…

What was I thinking when I wrote earlier that I will be reviewing the first issue of Condé Nast Portfolio as soon as I find a quiet place to sit down and read the “whole glowing issue.” Well, little I knew that the magazine is so addictive, the articles are so captivating, and the photography will freeze your flipping movement for a long long time… there is no way I can finish this issue today or tomorrow or even the day after. I am so glad it is a monthly and so glad that the information in it is timely yet timeless…I am going to take my time and sip it like that great glass of wine that ought to be drunk one slow, very slow sip at a time.