Putting magazine content on the internet is no new idea, but internet content in a magazine? That is exactly what Esquire will be offering next month with limited special editions of their publication. 100,000 of Esquire's roughly 700,000 magazines will feature content 'printed' with 'e-ink' technology. The technology produces small, rudimentary animations within the pages of the magazine, primarily on the front, inside and back covers.
This new breakthrough is the latest example of print media's refusal to concede in the battle with digital media, this time by taking a page out of the opposition's book (or non-book in this case). However, as a long-time fan of print media art and a type of graphic design that is unique to magazines and books, this is an unsettling sign. You may notice in the video that one of the first implementations of this new technology is in a Ford Motors advertisement, a company that invested a considerable amount of money in the development of the technology. Aren't print advertisements in magazines already loud and disorienting enough? And that is before they can flash, move and potentially make noise.
The problem with most new design technologies is the limitless nature of the possibilities. Designers have a wide variety of options available, and often have trouble showing restraint in using them. It is the reason many Flash-based websites don't work. Flash makes it possible to create a lot of eye-popping animations, interactive content, complex navigational structures, etc. But just because you can, doesn't mean that you should.
Design should augment the content, not distract from it. When designers get carried away with unnecessary bells and whistles, content often gets lost in design. With the advent of this new technology, we may see even more garish ads, story headers, tables of content, etc, within magazines. It may become less like reading a magazine and more like physically flipping through the pages of a website.
I don't know about you, but I read magazines because I want to read magazines. I like the fact that the words, pictures, and graphics in print media are static. I like the fact that I can read an article and look at related photos without a backlight or flashing content. I like the way graphic designers work to create something that grabs and holds your attention without having to change it every 5 seconds. When I want digital content, I will look it up on the computer.
1 comment:
Mixed feelings here. The challenge periodical media (like magazines and the websites they compete with) is the fact that you've got a staff of people with mouths to feed, and you can't feed them with the money you get from magazine sales alone.
Yes, I'm saying that they can use this to make their advertisers happier.
That said, Esquire is also drawing criticism for this issue as well. The battery runs out after 90 days, first off. The magazines have to be delivered in refrigerated trucks to preserve the batteries. Production is so complicated, they increase their carbon footprint by 16%. Esquire promises this is the "1.0 version," so perhaps this is the beginning of something new, but just like with any new medium, there will inevitably be a trial and error process before the most ideal applications for that medium emerge... that is, if they emerge.
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