Response

What do we really do differently now that we didn’t do years ago? Has anything really changed, or has the process merely become quicker due to the age and development of technology?

Yesterday I did a presentation on Collier’s magazine. It began in 1888 and greatly impacted the industry until it closed in 1957. While researching for this project I got lost in the library stacks going through decades of the weekly publication. It amazed me to see how, (a) they were in the forefront of their competitors and reaching upwards of a million readers within the first 10 years, or (b) have we, as designers merely regurgitated ideas and designs that have already been done? Is anything really new?  

Let me back up a little bit... I believe it is all of the above. The impressions that photographers and artists like Jimmy Hare, Will H. Bradley, J.C. Leyendecker and Edward Penfield have created in this century old concept are astounding. I think they were yes, ahead of their time and because their work is recognizable, brilliant, and timeless, why not take from the old and use in the new? You can say your inspiration is the propeller on a crop-duster if you take a picture of a plane flying by, but I’ll say: “the photographs were inspired by Jimmy Hare, a photographer who made vast developments within the realm of photojournalism, but also took the first photo of a flying plane in 1908.”

If we get down to the minute details and pick apart things in a micro-manner, then we can always find a way to question ideas, suggest a different source of origin, or simply say, “It’s not original.” Honestly though, if we did that, what would be the point? Why don’t we take what Collier’s did in 1910 when it was thriving and apply it to our concepts today? A modern spin on a classic.

Do you think we currently do that? In class we’ve been looking at the development and progression of magazine design from 1880s to the 1960s. A lot has changed, but a lot has remained the same, with a few technological updates of course. In the large scheme of things it has been really interesting to see how different magazines got their start, and if they were able to hold their own and press on through the ups and downs the economy has seen over the past century.