Design magazines between paper
and digital

This is a big research project, that I did for my MA graduation.

My thesis is founded on the intention of giving a profile of the situation of magazines today. A period in which the web, together with digital technologies, is entering deeply in the world of communication and information.

The aim of this thesis is to register how magazines are put in relation with the digital platforms and the internet, how they integrate this two into their mode of transmitting information. How they become part of a system turning magazines from a paper based publication to a platform with the ability to use different channels.

The chapters begins with a general section that identifies changes brought by modern instruments in the transmission of information. Then it moves to the recent history of magazines, since when digital technology has become part of their production till today. Therefore the report briefly examines the evolution of digital devices, software and formats that permit the digital publishing with an emphasis on the user experience they permit and they come from.

The analysis then goes on defining what a magazine is and what are its parts, the ones that set it apart from other publications, comparing their validity and their transformation in paper (c – carta), digital (d – digitale) and web media (w – web). The case studies focus the analysis on contents, fruition and visual identity.

To give substance to the analysis I have chosen a specific field, the italian magazines of design, analyzing a list of study cases. The various examples are a comprehensive reflection of today situation and they are compared with examples of the same field in the international scene.

Conclusions are mainly taken from this comparison, their aim is to outline how Italian design magazines relate to contemporary instruments. How they integrate them into their system and what possibilities haven’t yet been exploited.

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