A brief history of Magazines

1. A History of Magazine
Adverts
By Alex Jones

2. The Start of Magazines
Magazines have existed for several centuries
and can be traced back to the mid 1600’s.
In 1663 German theologian and poet Johann
Rist created a periodical called Erbauliche
Monaths-Unterredungen (“Edifying Monthly
Discussions”). This is now considered by many
to be one of the earliest examples of a modern
magazine.
In 1672 the first ‘periodical of amusement’ was
published. This magazine contained news,
songs, short verses and gossip. It’s name was
Le Mercure Galant. It was belittled by other
writers for it’s humour rather than intellectual
approach but was quite popular in France.

3. Early Magazines
In 1731, Edward Cave, an Englishman,
published a periodical named ‘The
Gentleman’s Magazine’. He took
‘magazine’ from the Arabic word
‘makhazin’, meaning storehouse. He was
the first publisher to successfully make a
wide-ranging publication.
Magazines became a wider form of
media during the 1800’s. Currently, the
oldest magazine still in publication is ‘The
Illustrated London News’. This began
publication in 1842. It was the first
illustrated magazine and later became
the first magazine to incorporate photos.

4. Early Printing
The printing press was invented in
1440 and so it was easy to print
text. Images, however, were more
difficult to put into magazines.
Lithography was invented in 1796
by German author and actor Alois
Senefelder. He introduced it as an
easy and cheap way of publishing
theatrical works. It is printing from
stone (lithographic limestone) or a
metal plate with a smooth surface.
They would then print onto paper
with this.
- Wax resist

5. Magazine Layouts
Many music magazines have gone through
different style changes over the years. The
‘New Musical Express’ (NME) is an example
of a magazine that has undergone such
changes.
NME started with a serif font and an
organised outlay. Everything was in line and
the logo was stationed in the top left.
This issue is from February 1974 and
features David Bowie on the front cover.

6. Magazine Layout Development
The cover from 1974 is quite different to this
one, from 1992.
This cover uses a sans serif font for the
titles and the cover lines. There is also a lot
more going on on this cover. There is a
masthead and a footer this time and there
are much more cover lines. There is even a
cover box with an extra photo. The logo is
still in the top left but had been shortened to
simply ‘NME’.
As you can see the magazine layout had
developed significantly from the 70’s to the
90’s.

7. Magazine Layout Development
Here we see a cover from 2010. As you
can see the layout seems to be more
chaotic and disorganised. However,
everything is still in line and square with
the image. The main header, still in a
sans serif font, is over the main image
rather than below it. The footer is now
split into several parts. The masthead is
also slightly different, split up. The logo
had now become more square with an
outline now in place.
- Add in about moving online, add in 2
adverts then done.

8. Magazine Distribution
Magazines have been distributed differently throughout their
production. They have been delivered door to door and sold
in shops but in an increasingly technological society
magazines have been moved online.
Through services like iBooks and Amazon online books and
magazines are becoming ever more popular. Magazines are
thereby lessening in the printing form and being put online
for people to download onto their mobile devices or tablets.

9. Analysis of A Magazine Advert
Mast
Head
Main Image
Cover Line
Typeface font
The text used on this
advert is rather informal.
It is not bold or straight.
It is rustic and scruffy,
perhaps showing who
this is targeted at. It is
evidently not pointed
towards the higher
classes as it is not
exactly professionally
presented, so perhaps
the middle classes and
lower.

10. Magazine Advert Analysis
The main image from this advert (see right) is an
interesting one. It perhaps links to the art from
known as DADA. This is an absurdist art form
that challenges art’s boundaries. This image is a
type of collage. It is one image made up of
several different images cut up. It is a unique way
of doing things and also indicates that this may
be targeted to a more chaotic youth audience.
The layout of the cover lines on this advert is unusual
as instead of all of the text being in one large text
box, each has a separate line of colour to make it
stand out. It is quite formal so wouldn’t appeal to,
perhaps, the older generation.