Behind the Monacle : Earz Magazine

Behind the Monacle

April 24, 2008 · Words: Martin S ·

Monacle website screenshot

It wasn’t so long ago that I was “wow”ing over Monacle magazine’s website design and vital approach to mixed media publishing, so it was nice to find this piece by Dan Hill, who recently left his position as Director of Web and Broadcast there.

He goes in-depth into each aspect of Monacle’s innovative publishing strategy, from how they broke into the podcast big league, to how they bridged the often patchy balance between print and web based content.

(…) The website, while containing virtually every word from the magazines in a rich archive for subscribers, would actually discreetly conceal that material in the background, pushing the original broadcast-style programming to the foreground. So Monocle.com would very clearly showcase the programmes, using the magazine editorial as a supportive structure which provides further context, further reading. The programmes are out front, the magazine content towards the back.

Hence the homepage is dominated by a widescreen element showcasing the latest programming; the menus and aggregation pages accentuate the broadcast elements, placing them top and left and adorning with thumbnail images, with the translated print pieces as a kind of richly-decorated supporting cast to the right. (Other magazine sites have begun to pick up on this tactic; others still simply copy and paste content out of Quark, or simply haven’t used the medium at all.)

Thus we were doing the opposite of what most magazine-driven brands when they turn to the internet (often as an afterthought). The obvious choice is to plonk all the magazine editorial online, and augment with a few editors’ blogs and such-like. At first glance, we were effectively letting the print material reside where it is best experienced - in the tactile format of the magazine - and instead exploring new facets of the brand with a broadcast-led website. But wanting to have our cake and eat it, the magazine material is there too, just reformatted for the web and immersed in a new navigational framework, appropriate to its new context.

Link to the article, and to Monacle Magazine.

Posted in Internet & Media