The Death of Print?

An episode of Dragons Den really annoyed me recently. A woman showed up with a reasonable pitch to take her printed fashion magazine global. She'd pulled the entire thing together herself and made the first steps towards taking it global. It wasn't the greatest pitch in the world - her numbers were seriously off - but the thing that annoyed me is that most of the Dragons turned her down because apparently 'print is dead'. They seemed to be arguing the point that why is she trying to take a printed magazine global when she should be going the other way and turning it digital instead.

Anyone that knows me will tell you that I'm a sucker for a well designed digital edition, I really am. But it will never replace print. I just don't care what anyone else says. I defy any Graphic Designer to not get excited about a beautiful print. There's just something about it that can't be replaced. A screen is a screen, it's impossible to appreciate the subtleties of a well chosen stock or a beautiful piece of letter pressing via a screen, and I think that in the end, this is what will save print. 

The thing that compounded the whole argument too was that here was a businessmen who - with the greatest respect - strikes me as the kind of person that is possibly slightly out of touch with the industry, but likes to present the image that he knows what he's talking about at all times. So when someone shows him a shiny magazine on an iPad and tells him it's the future, he immediately discards print as a dead medium. It's such a crazy argument for not taking this idea forward and nurturing it. I fail to see how a magazine is likely to be more successful digitally than it would be in print. Isn't it even more likely to get lost amongst the masses in the world-wide Newsstand than on the shelves of high street retailers? For me, this shows a total failure to grasp the entire point the girl pitching was making. I can't help but think that it would be far easier to work on the content/design and make it work in print than it would in digital. Because really, once you strip out all the bells and whistles, the content should speak for itself regardless of the medium. And it's a really tough job to make something unique for a digital publication these days - it really is. If you're going to play in this arena, you really better be ready to play with the big boys otherwise they will take you down. 

The ease at which people are disregarding the printed word amazes me. I mean, haven't you even smelt a really great magazine straight from the printers? It's like that new car smell, you just can't beat the shiny new-ness of it. I like the feeling that someone has taken the time and effort to choose the paper and the finish just for my reading enjoyment. And yes, I also like that when I'm done, they look cute lined up on my bookshelf in chronological order. But it's more than that, I like that I can pick them up and read them again and again without being told to free up space before I can download. 

This is what I think a certain Dragon failed spectacularly to grasp. There will always be print geeks like me that will pay for quality and for the experience of holding something real in our hands. Designers will always get a buzz from seeing their wok on a shelf - I don't care how many editions you've got in Newsstand, it's always awesome to see a piece of print you brought to life held in someone's hands.

Svea xo

p.s. One more thing. One of the apparently constructive pieces of criticism this girl received was that she should break up the fashion and introduce some lifestyle aspects such as Interior/recipes/craft etc. Because apparently that is all women want to read about. Now I love me some Pinterest diy-ing, I do, but for Christ's sake, the girl has a vision! Surely it would be better to focus on one area and do it really well than dilute her brand? And I'd love to see someone make that same suggestion to Anna Wintour. That I would pay to see.