Closer Look at Vogue

So I thought that it would be interesting to take a closer look to Vogues online present and maybe analyse what are they trying to achieve with it.

I wanted to look at the Vogue app but since I am not a Apple user and the app won't open on my PC I cannot do that. That is why I will look at the official website, Facebook account, Twitter account and any other social media account that they have.

Official Website: 

So this is the first thing when you open British Vogue official website (31/10/2012) The layout is very clean and minimal, so its very easy to work you're way through the website.

I outlined the trending part to show how the website is using words that have become popular with the help of Twitter like trending. That section automatically shows you what is popular right now and what are people looking at. Also they way it reminds me of Twitter is that Twitter also has the trending section on their website and it was their idea, which proved to be very successful. So, apparently Vogue is embracing it. So from the moment you enter their website you are guided to articles to read.

When you scroll down a little bit you see the Today's News. This shows that Vogue updates their news everyday. Supporting the previous posts and statements in them that Vogue needs to be constantly updated to stay on top of the game. Also you can see or assume, if you are not a Vogue reader, that so far the content of the website is very different from the magazine. Magazine might talk about events that will happen this month but it will not discuss anything too recent or have statements/news of Lady Gaga and her wanting Adele's confidence or Kate Mosses breakdown. The magazine will be more fashion focused. 

If you scroll a bit more down you have the 100 Best Shoes and Best Dressed articles (shortcuts to them). Those are the articles that stay there for longer then just a day. Vogue probably changes them once a week or once every two weeks. 

So these two pictures is what you would see when you would scroll till the end of the webpage. At the end you can find on going articles, like the on with Pixie Geldof and you can also find articles - the most read articles (not sure if most read of the day but logically it should be so). Also links to Vogues social media is seen at the bottom of the opening page of their website. It is interesting that Vogue shows the numbers of their followers, if  a lot of magazines an publications don't like to do that.

I pressed a random button on the menu the explore the website better. As you can see I pressed on Trends and this is what came up. I would also like to note that the website doesn't have a lot of adverts and when they do show them they are not "in your face" so they are not distracting the readers from the content.  

 

After I pressed on the first article and this what showed up. You can see on top (outlined with a red circle) the social media buttons, so any reader can like or retweet this article or a link to it. The buttons also show you the number of likes and retweets that this article already has. Personally I find the menu on the left side very interesting because I haven't seen anything like it before. Most of fashion magazines (also Vogue in the past) had the menu on top and had a very similar layouts to each other. This also proves that Vogue is the leader of fashion magazines, because its being different and embracing its online presents. 

This is a picture of what you can see when you scroll down - at the end of the article. There you see relevant pictures to the trend but also a place to comment about the article. As it can be seen the comment section looks a lot like Facebook in its design because it is. If a person comments in that section that will be seen on their official website and on their official Facebook page under the relevant post. 

It is fascinating how to different website are merged together and are so closely connected. The impression that I got from the website is that all their social platforms are well connected and that they are trying to make it easier to post about their articles - example of Facebook comment section being on their website. This shows how Vogue is using their social platforms to promote themselves and mainly the magazine, which people were scared will stop existing. With this Vogue is reaching a bigger audience then just with their magazine.

VOGUE: Fashion in the digital age

So Vogue organised an talk/event back in 2010 about the digital age. The event was basically a way to promote the Vogue app that was launched that month.  Vogue wanted to create a discussion about the fashion industry in our time, show how the industry has changed and talk about what actually changed and what stayed the same. Its an hour long talk between Robin Derreck, Vogues creative director and a popular fashion blogger with whom I personally wasn't familiar.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/vogue-fashion-in-digital-age/id419773310

The talk is also available as an audio recording. You would require iTunes to listen to it/watch it.  The topics that were discussed were:

• Role of creative director 
• Photography - digital, moving image etc. 
• Fashion brands and how they engage with their audience
• Vogue in the digital age 

For this project the last topic was the most interesting one. Robin Derreck presented the Vogue app for iPad . Robin Derreck commented on the online presents of a magazine by saying that it still needs to have the quality of a glossy magazine but it needs to sparkle a discussion. He also said that by having an online presents brands (Vogue) create communities which make them obligated to update their websites 365 days per year. He tries to show that in a way Vogue is becoming part of the entertainment industry  if they want to remain relevant they need to engage their readers every day, now days it cannot be just once a month.

He also discussed the app by saying that its an extension of the magazine. It still has the same content but with added videos in between pictures, or for example the model from the picture will walk up to the screen. So the app is the more entertaining version of the magazine.

Robin Derreck also mentioned that Vogue used to be "stiff", six girls (cover girls/super models) and six photographers but that now thanks to the digital age Vogue has become a lot more open to new talents and more daring with their content.

Personally I found the talk very interesting because it was discussed by a person who work in the industry for more then 25 years and has witnessed it evolve. He also wasn't shy to point out the mistakes that some brands have made or situations where maybe the brands should have taken different actions. It was nice to see a critical view of the industry in the digital age. I also liked that creative director of Vogue was giving the talk because it gave an opportunity to see the man behind the creative ideas of Vogue and hear from him how the magazine has adopted to the digital revolution.  He also gave an short introduction to the app and discussed why some things were done and how he worked on the app.

All in all the talk was very informative. It has supported some of the points that were previously discussed in this blog like how the content of the website needs to be updated every day and how they need to work much faster but it has also brought up some new points which I personally have not though of - like Vogue becoming some sort of entertainer. Of course those were not word used in the talk but that is what I got from it. The talk also shows that Vogue is quick to adapted to changes and is not trying to resist them and that it is trying more ways to create a discussion with their audience. In other words Vogue is trying to have a bigger part in our lives and at the same time embracing the digital age.

Vogue embraces the digital age

This link is to an article by the Guardian about how (French) Vogue is embracing the digital age with their

website relaunch. The interview is with Emmanuelle Alt, editor in chief of Vogue Paris.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/fashion-blog/2012/feb/06/french-vogue-relaunch

Here are some highlights from the interview :

Guardian Fashion: What would you say to someone who thinks that the glossiness of Vogue should be something you sit and flick through rather than look at on a computer screen?

Emmanuelle Alt: Vogue is the absolute reference for fashion and trends. This is clear for the print version, and must be the case everywhere. Vogue must also be the fashion authority on the Internet, and on all digital channels. The Vogue Paris Twitter account is the most influential in France for all these reasons, and the new Vogue Paris website will also fulfill this role. The digital world and the press do not have the same temporality, but they each reflect the Vogue DNA.

Do you see a time when magazines as physical objects will simply cease to exist? And are the magazine's sales at risk from things being seen on the website?

EA: I think it's absurd to think that the magazine could be replaced by the website, as these two platforms for Vogue's know-how and expertise complement each other. One will not substitute the other. The print version will always remain a platform for the expression of creativity and inspiration, while the site remains above all else, a news and information outlet. I would even go further, to say that like our social networks, the site is still recruiting new readers for the magazine, which also makes it a source of sales development.

What are the key differences in working on a print magazine and a digital one and how to you see the two things co-existing? How does it change the role of editor-in-chief?

EA: The biggest difference is temporality, which means that we have to produce content on a daily basis. The physical format, and the use and functionalities of the web also influence specific content, which is by its nature different from the magazine. What is important to us, however, is that our readers, our users, our fans and our followers, expect Vogue to bring them the hottest, most exclusive news; to guide them through the ocean of new products to make fail-safe choices, and to be in the know before the rest.

So Emmanuelle Alt sees the the digital media as a way of expanding the Vogue brand. It is interesting that she says that the website (digital media) helps to attract new readers and that she doesn't believe that hard copies of the magazine will ever cease to exist. In recent years there has been panics that with all the cutting down the number of staff and with dropping readership the print media will eventually die out but as it can be read in this interview the editors remain positive.  

Emmanuelle Alt is not the only one, Wired magazines editor Chris Anderson sees the "app" economy helping to build value for publishers. "You can retain everything that makes a magazine great and then add three new things; the videos, the animation, the interesting, a social media layer," Anderson said.( "Kovarik, B. (2011) Revolutions in Communications: Media History from Gutenberg to the Digital Age, London: Continuum)  

"On-line services will coexist with print for the foreseeable future and maybe forever," says Stephen B. Shepard, editor in chief of Business Week. (Pavlik, V. P. (1998) New Media Technology: Cultural and Commercial perspectives, London: Allyn and Bacon) This only supports previous statements. Perhaps the digital revolution in the print world can be seen as a positive phenomena. 

Interestingly enough originally, the hope for digital media technology was simply that people would have more choice in selecting news reports. ( "Kovarik, B. (2011) Revolutions in Communications: Media History from Gutenberg to the Digital Age, London: Continuum)  As we can see the digital media evolved beyond that.

MyDaily Presents: How Has the Digital Age Changed Fashion?

In this video representatives from different fashion aspects (Mary Kantranzou - designer, Alex Fury - Editor of LOVE Magazine, Sasha Wilkins - blogger/fashion editor etc www.libertylondongirl.com and Melanie Rickey - blogger, fashion editor www.fashioneditoratlarge.blogspot.com )and talk about fashion in the digital age.

The video is a bit more then 4 minutes.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrowgs_mydaily-presents-how-has-the-digital-age-changed-fashion_lifestyle

In the video the participants discuss how digital media changed their jobs and the main focus is on print media and how it sill exist with its online version and how the online version needs to be up to minute with its content.

Vogue

Since my main interest is fashion I decided that this project should focus on how fashion publications, mainly Vogue and how it adapted to the digital age and the changes it has gone through. I will try to focus the British Vogue but sometimes add or compare with the other Vogue magazines.

This is British Vogue official website - http://www.vogue.co.uk/

British Vogue Twitter - https://twitter.com/BritishVogue

British Vogue Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/BritishVogue

British Vogue Tumblr - http://british-vogue.tumblr.com/

British Vogue Pininterst - http://pinterest.com/britishvogue/

It is also possible to subscribe to Vogue for your iPad or iPhone.

Digital purchase options available: 

A single issue for £2.99 

A 1-year subscription for £23.99 

A rolling monthly subscription for £2.49 a month  

(Information from https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/british-vogue/id434360554?mt=8)

As it can be seen Vogue has become a very accessible magazine. People can follow them on different social media platforms and be a part of the Vogue way of life. When Vogue came out it used to be something that women dreamt about.

Even though it is one of the oldest fashion magazines it has adapted quite well to the digital age.

The digital age has allowed the readers to full access of the production of the magazine, lives of the editors etc. Even the Chief-Editor of Vogue can be found on Twitter- https://twitter.com/AShulman2.

Anyone can fallow her and  tweet her questions or suggestions on what Vogue should write about.

The Fashion world used to be a closed world for common people like you or me but now with fashion blogs, Twitter etc anyone can access it. The editors are now the stars of the fashion blogs. A lot of them have become celebrities in their own right like Anna del Russo or Anna Wintour.

In conclusion this post shows how Vogue used to be a monthly magazine and women only access to the life that Vogue was promoting was limited -  to buy the magazine. Now women can follow it on any social platform or read it online and be a part of the Vogue life. The digital age has helped the fashion magazine to expand and become more reachable and become a part of readers (women) everyday life.

Why Print Media?

I want to focus my project on print media and how digital revolution has affected it.

Print media has changed how people communicate, it has helped in making our education what it is today, because it was a key tool in distributing information. It is hard to think of the past events like the World War 2 without print media. Previous generation cannot imagine their mornings without a newspaper or a weekly magazine but now all that is changing.

The new generations cannot imagine their morings without checking their Facebook or Twitter. Now we get our information from the Internet, we get our news from there, which are usually recent and happened hours ago. So how can print media that is seen as outdated, still be relevant? How did the "digital revolution" affect it? How is the print media coping with all of this? Where is it all going?

I'll focus on 1 or 2 newspapers or magazines of my choice.I will try to analyse these and many other question in this blog and create a picture of Print Media in the 21 Century.

In other words it is a important part of human history and something that I am personally interested in and therefor it is the focus of my project.