What do you like and hate about a magazine?

[Deleted member 49693]

I'm not going to get plus size models, I'm just not going to have ultra thin models so instead of the usual model size 34-24-34, I am going to make it 36-26-36 to make them look healthy and more curvy. Plus I am not going to have weird looking models, but classy and stunning models instead, not the page 3 type.

Who would prefer that?

 

[Lil_Flip246]

HATE: *Actresses/Singers in editorials/covers
* Super-skinny waify zombie models

LOVE: *Curvy, Sexy supermodels on the covers/editorials

 

[Lil_Flip246]

I am making a fashion magazine for women and would like to know...

What do you like and hate about a magazine? And what do you wish they add? Even if someone has said it and you agree, please say so, so I can see how many people like or hate that suggestion.

For me....

I hate:
- anorexic looking underage models.
- fashion is always too expensive
- too much sex advice or so called "relationship advice"
I like:
- Romantic stories
- Beautiful clothes
- Beauty advice

I wish they add: More educational articles.

How are you able to create your own fashion magazine?

 

[Deleted member 49693]

^ A friend of mine has contact with an international publishing house and would like my input. It won't exactly be my magazine, but I am helping to create it....

 

[Blanche DuBois]

Great thread!

I like:
-when the issue is big, lots of pages and so.
-I actually like the ads, only the fashion houses ads, not parfums or make up, those are usually repeated (i mean...doesn't anybody get tired of seeing the same j'adore ad?), when you see the ad, you get to see the clothes maybe in details, or you can see the image the label project every season, i enjoy them.
-Editorials editorials editorials everywhere
-Models on covers.
-Maybe one interview with a celebrity, but a really deep one, well done, and specially if the celeb is an interesting person (very few of them).
-when they give advice about styling yourself, but with pics of models on backstage, I don't care how Nicole Richie is wearing the leggings, I prefer to see it on Emina backstage at Versace.
-When they analize some makeup at a particular fashion show, and how to achieve that look.

What I Hate:
-Celebs in fashion magazines, this is a trend I never liked or supported
-cosmetics advice, specially when they say something like "how to definitely cure oily skin" and when you read the article, it is just some explanation about how oily skin acts, and a bunch of names of doctors and higly expensive treatments.
-articles or promotion about jewelry, I don't care about jewels design or jewels for that matter.

 

[tigerrouge]

What I hate about UK mags is the constant stream of useless free gifts they give away - for a while, it seemed to turn into some sort of 'giveaway war' where every month, they'd all compete to offer a variety of nylon bags, umbrellas, bikinis and books, all of which were on the substandard side, and no compensation for a boring magazine - which, after all, is the product you are paying money to purchase!

A price cut entices me to buy a magazine more than any piece of tat ever does. Which leads me on to a second gripe - the cost of Conde Nast's import magazines, which are priced way above the exchange rates. Magazines from other publishers imported from any country never seem to be priced as high, so what's going on? If Conde Nast are trying to position their magazines as 'premium products' via these premium prices, it doesn't work; the higher the price, the less likely I am to hand my money over.

The more money I have, the pickier I seem to get about what magazines to spend it on. When I was a poor student, I think my relative inability to afford expensive magazines made me want them all the more. These days, it's all about the cover price.

 

[Deleted member 49693]

^ What giveaways would you prefer? Any ideas?

 

[static]

Oooh and one thing I really hate is when the price labels are gigantic and refuse to peel off without defacing the cover Though I suppose that's more the distributors than the mag itself

 

[tigerrouge]

No giveaways - cover price is all, for me. I also dislike the sheer hypocrisy of magazines running articles with a 'green' agenda and then trying to promote themselves via some free piece of plastic tat or shapeless acrylic T-shirt that most people won't actually use.

 

[indie]

I'm not going to get plus size models, I'm just not going to have ultra thin models so instead of the usual model size 34-24-34, I am going to make it 36-26-36 to make them look healthy and more curvy. Plus I am not going to have weird looking models, but classy and stunning models instead, not the page 3 type.

Who would prefer that?

Sounds nice, but I wouldn't be too strict with the measurements...either you look healthy or you don't..

 

[Luxx]

HATES:

- Celebrity covers: There are so many celebrity magazines already. Fashion magazines do not need to become celebrity magazines. Celebrities are usually horrific models in that they refuse to take interesting photos and/or cannot pose properly. They are poor substitutes for the real thing. I also think the increased focus on celebrities is bad for the stars in and of themselves. They become overexposed and in the long run it hurts their career. It would be better for everyone involved if celebrities stuck to magazines like Vanity Fair as opposed to Vogue.

- Extraneous Cover Text: Too much cover text takes away from the visual and is unsightly in and of itself. The headlines are more often than not lame and completely unneeded. Information on articles should be kept to the table of contents pages. If magazines were smart about things they would simply make their tables of contents easier to locate (perhaps on the first or second page of the magazine) and it could eliminate the need for all the cover text.


- Unfashionable People: I don't mind articles on a celebrities in my fashion magazines but said articles should first and foremost be about fashionable people. Being famous does not automatically make you fashionable and its about time magazines realized that. Many of the young starlets often featured are NOT fashionable in any way shape or form and its annoying to constantly see them in magazines. I would however like to know more about fashion conscious celebrities like Chloe Sevigny or Charlotte Gainsbourg.


- Tacky Ads: I don't mind an excess of ads if they ads are high quality. I don't want to open up my magazine and see an add for something like Walmart or medicated foot powder or some other such thing that breaks the fantasy. High quality ads only please. I don't think they should sell ad-space to just anyone.


- Gimmicks: I don't much like giveaways, prizes and so on so forth. Every one and awhile fine but I don''t need like a free tote bag with my magazine. I'd rather have more content.


- Redundant Media: If you've done an editorial in one style. Do not repeat that style. Even if it works beautifully. I'd rather see something new than have to page though rehashed material. Recycling is for cans and bottles, not fashion!

LOVES:

- Model Rotation: I don't just want to see the girls of the moment in editorials I want to see new faces. Its always wonderful when you don't know automatically which models will be in the magazine. Its just much more exciting that way as opposed to going "Oh. Gemma again..." Its also nice when there is a mix of body types with models. I don't like when there's only one type of girl in any publication.

- Beauty / Health Features: I think beauty / health coverage at most major magazines kind of sucks. They usually just show a bunch of shiny new products and leave it at that. I think people don't just want to know whats new, they want to know what works. And a nice fragrance article every now and then doesn't hurt either.


- Excellent Fashion Editing: I love when there are good editors at the helm. You can always spot the difference. Instead of seeing 10 editorials with that Balenciaga riding hat you get a nice varied approach. I also like when there isn't one prevailing fashion aesthetic. That way you get different vibes with each editorial.

- Decent Prices: Its easier to fork over $5 for a magazine than it is to fork over $20. It just is. Which is not to say that it isn't worth it to splurge on the fashion bibles but when the price is lower its just easier. Even the difference between $15 and $20 is a big one when it comes to magazines.


- Paper quality: This may go against my last point but I love when a magazine has excellent paper quality. I'm willing to spend more if I feel the paper is a high grade. I just feel like the magazine will last longer / scan better / be more of an overall value. Plus pictures look better on a high paper quality / larger format.


- Good Art Direction: This goes without saying but what a difference a good layout makes. I'm all about increased visual pleasure, unique design will draw me to a magazine faster than anything.

- Culture Articles: I love fashion but I also feel as though fashion is part of a greater appreciation of the arts. I don't know many people who JUST love fashion and don't care about literature / music / television / politics / art / cinema / architecture and so on so forth. Its always very interesting when a fashion magazine covers these topics and covers them well. It shouldn't be the main focus of a fashion magazine but there should be some coverage of those topics as you cannot have a fashionable life without them.

- Writers who can you know, write: I love when contributors have a strong opinion and voice. I don't like wishy washy journalism or vapid profiles (see: Sykes, Plum) A good writer is worth every penny and isn't it refreshing to read a well written piece what with all the bad articles out there. Reading should be a joy.


- Excellent Photographers: They don't have to be names. They just have to be good.

- Supplements: More is more. A good supplement is priceless and its nice for the readers since it feels like you're getting two magazines.

I'm so longwinded

 

[Deleted member 49693]

Does everyone agree that no photoshopping is better?

 

[pink.nails]

I hate

- thin issues
- to many ads
- articles that are not well written
-To much on one page

What I like
- Well written Articles
- thick issues
- nice page layout (not to cluttered)

 

[TheKiwi]

Hate:
- photos of models/celebs that are too photoshopped
- when magazines contradict themselves by saying something like "models need to be healthy, not anorexic!" then 2 pages later there's a very very skinny model.

Love:
- affordable (but lovely) clothes and accessories!
- health news/tips
- work-outs and photos demonstrating them
- travel reports on interesting places to go
- beauty how-to's

 

[prosperk]

This cover price thing ticks me off. Unless a magazine is financed by a major publishing house, it cannot produce competitive quality without charging higher prices. For a start, the distributors take at least 50% of the retail cover price. The glossies costing $5/€5 or less are heavily subsidised in terms of price, in order to price independents out of the marketplace and the strategy works as long as the reading public buys a style or fashion magazine on the basis of price alone.

Either you have a cover price in excess of $10/€10 for an 'independent' magazine or you go for $5/€5 or less and end up with a cheap product or a mass-market product...with all of the things that most of you hate. What is it with the objections I read here to anything costing more than five bucks? You're happy enough to drop twenty bucks on cocktails for two in some fashion victim dive but you can't pay ten bucks for a magazine that is trying to fight against everything you say you hate about run-of-the-mill fashion magazines?

We know about publishers and their ethics but it sometimes strikes me that the majority of readers get precisely the magazines that they deserve. There are threads here on this website about magazines that set out to break the mould and they're dead threads because no more than half a dozen members even looked at them. Much easier to moan about the menu than change the diet, huh?

You want laminated 250gr covers, 180gr paper, perfect repro, high quality articles and top notch fashion shoots with top models etc etc... OK, but have you any idea how much high end fashion shoots cost? And that's just the above-line expenses. Editors often have to bribe agents and models with cash in envelopes to ensure that the girl shows up. I've done it myself, with several grand in an envelope.

That said, one can produce a great-looking magazine with a very small budget. We did this with Vogue Hommes International in the early 2000s. The operating budgets were miniscule yet the magazine was more profitable, according to the bean-counters, than Vogue Paris for a while...so VHI's income was 'taxed' to help subsidise Vogue and its cast of millions. Anyone can make a good magazine: the problem is distribution.

VHI is perhaps anomalous as an example because we had great people contributing, thanks to the title. If the magazine is not backed by years of tradition, so to speak, forget about getting 'high end' content in terms of top photographers, models and so on. However, you can still make a magazine that is as good as or better than any of the big ones because - whisper this! - most of the top 'talent' isn't actually as good as all that and there are plenty of hungry young photographers, stylists and editors who could knock the socks off the establishment...if they got a look-in.

You see, quality is a dangerous element. Make something too good and you'll be dumbed down by the suits-and-ties quicker than you can imagine...because the industry does not want interlopers showing the public that 90% of what they are being fed is really quite sub-standard.

Harsh, I know, but there it is. This is why independents have to charge higher cover prices. It's the price one must pay for editorial freedom. If enough members of the public paid those prices, the mainstream titles would take notice and global quality would improve. But as long as we tolerate a society in which Star Academy makes headlines, we'll get Paris Hilton as the yardstick of young style...

PK