Projects Sketching the Future of Magazines

Nothing is permanent except change, they say. Might be true, and at least at the moment, many interesting projects are driving change in the world of publishing. The idea of micropublishing, or tiny publishing companies is one such idea, but not the only one.

Looking at some projects I have been following lately, it’s hard to define one clear direction where the future is headed. Printed press has been declared dead many times already, but still the future doesn’t seem to be all digital. New, beautiful, printed publications are still being started. At the same time publishing is opening up. Tools are being built and new projects started to bring publishing to the masses.

New print magazines

Cereal, Offscreen and Kinfolk are all examples of a new wave of print magazines that unlike traditional print magazines sit somewhere in between the magazine and book format. Instead of being quick entertainment, these magazines aim for a collectible status, something you keep for a long time and read many times like a good book.

iPad Newsstand

The iPad is still rapidly growing in popularity and therefore becoming and ever more important tool for publishers to get their content to the readers. The Magazine is a new publication designed for the newsstand since the beginning. The Periodical is a promising project that aims to bring technology similar to that in The Magazine to all of us.

In all, it’s a good time to be exploring the world of publishing.