OUGD401 - What impact has the internet and digital media had on editorial design and publications?

OUGD401 - What impact has the internet and digital media had on editorial design and publications?

For as long as the internet and digital media have been integrated into design, it has been a subject of controversy. Of course one of the main areas of Graphic Design this effects is editorial design and publications; with the introduction of digital reading platforms, the sales of newspapers, magazines and physical publications have been decreasing over the years, and are projected to continue doing so. The question is not only whether digital media will completely replace physical publications, its whether it should. 

Clifford (2014) gives a good overview of this integration; he summarises 2 fundamental things that the internet and digital media gave design, the first of them being digital software as a medium - ‘While some saw the computer as simply another tool for creating work, like a drawing pen, others saw it’s potential as a medium itself’. It goes without saying that digital platforms and design software provided infinite new possibilities in graphic design; from the tools available to edit and layer images to the range of typefaces available to designers - ‘Emerging digital technology also changed typography, exploding the number of typefaces available and giving designers the tools to create and distribute their own fonts’ - and with postmodernism having succeeded modernism in the 20th century and almost every avenue explored, it’s entirely possible that without this new technology, the evolution of design would have been stunted. 

The other thing that Clifford (2014) states the introduction of the internet gave design is communication and ‘social, political and cultural’ awareness - ‘Finally the computer offered something brand new: interactivity’. The internet is undoubtedly the largest tool for communication ever created, and what is graphic design without communication? Suddenly designers had the world at their finger tips and could not to only use it to enhance the range of clients and projects they could take on, but to learn - ‘Design education programs expanded and became more rigorous’. Graphic Design from all over the world could be accessed and utilised to learn from and inform ones own practise. For editorial design, this meant the most influential collaboration of design practises since European designers such as Alexey Brodovitch and Ladislav Sutnar came to America subject to the Nazi regime in the Second World War - ‘Designers and artists needed to either conform to Hitler’s policies or move elsewhere. Many came to the United States, bringing their European modern sensibilities with them’ - Clifford (2014).

In many ways, it is still the case that new technology constantly expands the possibilities of graphic design, in regards to digital platforms competing against physical publications, editorial designers and publishers can either use this as an opportunity to develop their publications even further, alongside a digital platform, or go entirely digital. In the case of the former, this can be done with great success, as Jamie Reid, who was appointed Art Director of Dazed Magazine for this very reason in 2015, told It’s Nice That (2015) -  'Because Dazed has such a strong digital platform the structure of the mag had to change... You have to be clever now with print, and make sure what you’re producing is worth producing’. The reason this complete redesign of Dazed worked so effectively in boosting the popularity of the publication was because it aimed to deliver something not on the digital platforms - ‘With the new team naturally came a new editorial direction, which focused on using the printed version of Dazed as a very separate entity to its digital counterpart’. Alternatively sometimes magazines can fail to compete with digital platforms; in 2015, after a big decline in sales, NME decided to relaunch their magazine as a free weekly publication - ‘The 62-year-old magazine … had an average weekly print sale of just 18,184 in the second half of 2013. One industry source described the figures as a death knell’ - Plunkett (2014) wrote in The Guardian. While this free publication was met with success at first, in March 2018, NME announced they would retire their magazine and focus on their digital platform as O’Connor (2018) reported in the Independent - ‘Unfortunately we have now reached a point where the free weekly magazine is no longer financially viable. It is the digital space where effort and investment will focus to secure a strong future for this famous brand’.

When it comes to physical publications, Dazed’s success was in creating not just a magazine, but a covetable and collectable object. A large factor in this is often the paper stock; the reason so many people will never fully make the change to reading digitally is the experience of holding a publication in your hand. This has been commented on by many designers. In the very same It’s Nice That interview with Jamie Reid, Gosling (2015) commented on Dazed’s new approach to paper stock -‘For a start, it uses a shift in paper stock to represent a shift in content: the fashion pages are glossy, while the more editorially-led are in matte’. Renowned designer David Carson echoed these sentiments in 2016 during an interview with Medium (2016) - ‘No, I agree, when I get a new magazine the first thing I would do, just an unconscious ritual really, the first thing I would do is the weight, does it feel like a thick issue or a thin, did that cardboard insert help, and number two would be the smell, and then you start looking at it, how does the paper feel?’. While both these statements hold a lot of validity, one must consider the environmental impacts of the quantity of paper used in publishing, In an article about the sustainability of printed magazines, Siegle (2009) wrote for The Observer - ‘less than half the paper consumed in the world is recycled after disposal, and in the UK 5m tonnes of paper goes to landfill every year’. Ultimately, digital magazines or ‘e-zines’ are not only a much more sustainable option as they use no paper, but a more economical one too, as they cost nothing to produce. When facing facts like these, a greater shift towards digital publishing sounds like a good idea. 

There is no denying that the internet and digital media has allowed editorial design to grow to new levels. This is true for both digital and physical platforms; physical magazines display more sophisticated and refined design than ever, subject to the constantly improving software which facilitates designers to do so with ease and the interactivity and awareness of graphic design that has been promoted and influenced on the internet. Digital magazines provide an easy, cost effective and sustainable way of sharing information and design, with the added technological benefits of using a digital platform. Graphic Design is constantly evolving, and it’s impossible to predict the next technology which will forever change it. In his seminal publication Counterblast (1954), media theorist and philosopher Marshall McLuhan supposedly predicted the internet in the 50’s with the theories he put forward. He wrote - ‘It is the framework which changes with each new technology and not just the picture within the frame.’ - effectively, with each technological breakthrough in graphic design, it is not only what is produced that is new, but how it is done and how it is considered. This is the natural evolution of graphic design; awaiting the next breakthrough which will change how we do it, and the internet and digital media have been a rung on that ever ascending ladder. 

Bibliography

Clifford, J (2014). Graphic Icons: Visionaries Who Shaped Modern Graphic Design. United States: Peachpit Press. p.184 - 185, 68 -69.

Gosling, E. (2015). “Everything has changed”: new Dazed art director Jamie Reid talks us through the mag’s redesign. Available: https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/dazed-magazine-redesign-jamie-reid. Last accessed 5th December 2017.

Plunkett, J. (13 Feb 2014). NME Sales Falling of the Charts. The Guardian.

O'Connor, R. (7 Mar 2018). NME to close print edition magazine and expand digital platforms. The Independent.

Banks, A. (2016). An Interview with David Carson. Available: https://medium.com/@adambanksdotcom/an-interview-with-david-carson-b4daa3df624c. Last accessed 23rd April 2018.

Siegle, L. (20 Sep 2009). How sustainable are printed magazines?. The Observer

McLuhan, M (1970). Counterblast. London: Rapp & Whiting Ltd..