Marking a new era in print publishing, The Modern Magazine Conference welcomed a host of industry figures for a day dedicated to celebrating the printed form.

“This is the golden age of magazines,” stated Jeremy Leslie, conference creator and author of the accompanying book of the same title. This may seem like optimistic propaganda, yet the speakers and magazine makers that took to the stage proved otherwise. Demonstrating a passion for print that perseveres amidst the currently challenging times, Leslie’s wish is to leave behind the bandied notion of the death of print. He believes that the medium “is very much here to stay.”

A range of publications were featured in the discussions of the day, with speakers coming from both large, established magazines and smaller, independent titles. Tyler Brûlé set the standard, delivering a talk that chronicled both his establishment of design magazine Wallpaper* and also his creation and expansion of Monocle, the global affairs and lifestyle title that he currently helms. Divulging his aversion to focus groups, Brûlé advocated “the consultancy of common sense”, emphasising the importance of instinctive decision making within the industry.

Justine Picardie, the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, also spoke of her magazine's renaissance under her editorship, explaining how she looks to the archives of the fashion magazine, as well as to her predecessors Diana Vreeland and Carmel Snow to inspire this rebirth. Picardie emphasised the importance of the relationship between an editor and a creative director, highlighting both the creative advantages and disadvantages that can arise when working for a large corporation.

Picardie also formed part of a panel alongside The Gentlewoman’s Penny Martin, Debbi Evans of Libertine and Liz Ann Bennett of Oh Comely, which discussed the issues affecting women’s magazines today. The panel offered highly-charged views that centred on matters of feminism, fashion, categorisations on the newsstand and the “science” of a successful front cover. It soon became apparent that even the label “women’s magazine” is an area of contention, with Picardie particularly underwhelmed by the term and describing it as “reductive”.

However, it was Martin’s role on the panel that captivated the audience, challenging the oversimplified questions posed to this area of publishing: “This would be a really poor session if we were trying to come to a consensus on what should be in a women’s magazine… They should all be different. It’s an obscenity to print a bad magazine, so many resources are consumed to make them. And let’s be honest, there are far too many of them.”

The second panel discussion looked at the challenges facing independent magazines today. Chaired by Steve Watson of Stack – the independent magazine subscription service – the panel comprised Simon Esterson of graphic design title Eye, Rosa Park, founder of travel and food publication Cereal, Cathy Olmedillas, creator of children’s magazine Anorak, and Davey Spens of travel title Boat.

With each speaker having previously taken to the stage to relay their ventures into magazine publishing, the panel discussion was an opportunity to compare and contrast each editor’s approach to the onslaught of digital media. Each agreed that the opportunities afforded by online media for marketing and promotion of their magazines heralds a golden age of print. However Spens eloquently reflected on this matter, stating: “We are in the golden age of magazines, but we are also stumbling in the dark trying to engage an audience with a beautiful product.”

The final word of the conference came from Richard Turley, Creative Director of Bloomberg Business Week, who has built a reputation for bringing humour and fun to a business title through infographics, illustration and design experimentation. A slideshow of archive covers demonstrated his accomplishments as he affirmed, “A cover is an event.”

The recurring use of the terms "storytelling", "conversation" and "passion project" throughout the conference underlined the continued longevity and permanence of the print medium. Yet questions about the future distribution of print magazine were repeatedly raised, yet not properly tackled because of time restraints. Perhaps there is scope for a future conference on this topic alone?

WORDS Rio Jade Ali

> via disegnodaily