Response: Editing

Today in my editing class we critiqued the March issue of Outside magazine.

I had never read Outside magazine before (let's face it, I'm not a man nor am I interested in adventure sports), which made the experience especially interesting. Not only did I find it easier to critique a magazine that I am in no way attached to, but I actually found myself considering aspects of the magazine industry that I don't usually consider in my classes or daily life.

From a design perspective, I gotta say, I didn't like it. The inconsistency and extraneous elements really got to me. Take the TOC for instance. The features pages has this AMAZINGLY striking photo of a bat, yet the next page for the departments was boring, boarding on cheesy. There would be absolutely beautiful full page (full-page?) photographs followed by crowded front of book sections. There's a lot of really cool stuff in the magazine, even for the non adventurous women like me, but without some more organization it will never really appeal to me.

What did you guys think?

Response: Editing Class

Yesterday in my Magazine Editing lecture, Professor Rowe talked about the ways in which the hierarchy of editors can vary from publication to publication. Sitting there, what she was saying seemed so obvious, yet I realized that I had never given the topic very much thought. She brought attention to the fact that at some magazines the design director is listed second or third, while at others he or she isn't listed until much farther down the masthead. She said if she were a designer, she would take this into consideration because it is a reflection of how important the magazine's design is to the publication as a whole.

Obvious, right? But honestly I had never thought about it. Sadly, I always assumed that designers (even the lead ones) were listed farther down on all mastheads, and that that was simply the way the industry worked. I assumed that editorial positions would always receive masthead superiority.

I am so glad that this unfortunate misconception on my part was cleared up as I start to look for jobs in design. Now, not only will I look at whether I like the design, but also how important the magazine deems my position to be as a part of the whole operation. Thanks Professor Rowe!