The Future of Publishing: Pixel or Print? - Matt Judge, 2010
demand for design publishing hasn't changes - distribution has
- once looked at pages or magazines such as Creative Review or Laurence King for out curated insight on design, we can now turn to the internet.
Guardian iphone app
- downloaded over 100,000 times
- shows demand for mobile content
Designers are different breed
- industry love paper & ink and nostalgia towards print drives demand for more and more periodicals hitting the shelf
- idpure, process
what is the importance of print in design publishing future?
- printed publishing is old news
- a subject can be covered many times on numerous sites online in the time it can be published in a book
convenience is the web
- internet attribute. content readily available wherever and whenever you want it
- dont have to wait for it to come to you
- more cost effective
- if article needs updating it can be done in seconds at no expense
this is not the same for print
online design resources
- functional, encourage discussions between designers
comments & forums
- publishers can engage with audience, share info, opinions, inspiration and observations
In contrast print only facilitates a one way conversation. Print no longer holds exclusivity of great journalism / writing.
Print does have redeeming factors - physicality
- everything that is digital has no 'real' value
Printed publication is tangible - draws us to it
- offers exclusivity, collect ability - cant be done through digital / online.
Tactile nature of publication serves as source of inspiration itself, beyond the content
Final aesthetic being an important factor in design, print delivers this.
- presentation, finishing, typography cant be displayed on a screen or through the internet in the same way.
Readability -
- people prefer to print text heavy web pages to read at own leisure - no strain to eyes
- some text need more than one visit - frustrating to keep revisiting a web page - can just fold a corner of a page
Future of print publishing?
- popularity of online content will challenge print
- champion quality
magazine with a following may have to look at design and print finishes to keep interest
- development of print needed
Idea magazine
- great example of pushing print
- constant evolution of approach to content and visual communication
- attention to detail ad emphasis on more isolated subject matters - show great design / not jack of all trades
- previous editions with collaboration with designers, such as design republic are collectable
- testimony t its value and relevance as print
Futu & Elephant
- willingness to collaborate
- invest in great design to give a unique selling point
- challenge conformities of traditional editorial design by scrapping the grid in favour for a more crafte, tailored approach - page by page
- success more personal taste. creatives tend to appreciate innovation and collect it.
- elephant also made available online as digital subscription
- less cost - view magazine spread for spread as interactive PDF.
- Some saw this approach as a concern.
"It makes no sense to simply replicate the print version online...the web is a very different environment with different possibilities. The magazines online presence must take advantage of that" Matt Wiley, Studio 8, 2010.
Most significant development in design press
- advent of guerrilla publishing houses - Unit Editions
- design from those within the industry pedigree - pivotal factor to success
- quality content and design
Online presence acts valuable for the brand to engage the design community. Everything is still print based, which this investment in printed form has made it such a success.
Its Nice That - new breed of publishers
- use web following as captive audience for self-published periodicals
- Alex Bec, Director
" Print allows them to show the work as always intended, printed well and with respect, rather than in RGB on a monitor at low resolution only a few pixels wide"
- journals document best of the sites content interwoven with new content, strong design, concept and execution.
These examples prove that while pixel holds some advantages over print, the two mediums can exist and work together to provide a combined and superior offer.
True test comes when elements such as type, depth and texture can be produced digitally.
As long as ink being laid on paper, it still has significant role within design publishing. When it accepts downfalls and takes advantages of strengths it will become more powerful.
When designers start to see result of combined platforms this will result in the future of publishing.
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