FROM THE EDITOR
Welcome to my magazine creation! During this course, I took a particular interest in the evolving relationship between text and images and how culture and consumer habits influenced this relationship. As part of my work, I create a lot of print and digital content, and thought it would be interesting to explore how the design within these two mediums differs, and how it is evolving within the context of print and digital cultures.
I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the evolution of magazine publications as a way to examine how the tensions between the modes of representation have played out in this medium, and chose to study magazine design specifically for a few reasons. First, Bolter claims that increasingly, genres are either experiencing a breakout of the visual or reacting against it and he identifies newspapers, magazines and websites as writing spaces where the tension between print and visual cultures are playing out (2001, p.55). Furthermore, the choice to examine the evolution of text-image relations in magazines presents advantages as the archives are serial, allowing for comparisons over extended periods in relatively controlled conditions (Gretton, 2010, p. 684).
As I began exploring this topic, an area I began reflecting on is "design literacy". In this course, we've explored the notion that there are many forms of literacy, and the ability to create and design publications, something that is increasingly becoming accessible to many individuals, is just one more manifestation of the complexity of today's literacy. Ironically, I chose to further my own "design literacy" skills by using the magazine format to present this assignment. I hope you enjoy it!
Sincerely,
Ariane
Ariane Montcalm
Editor in chief