How Does Culture Alter the Development of Design Elements in Contemporary Print?

Introduction

This essay is an exploration into the development of graphic design elements in print over time. This will be done through the lens of two respected international graphic design magazines: the British magazine ‘Eye’ and the Japanese magazine ‘IDEA’. I have done this by going through an archive of the magazines and documenting certain pages. When choosing which issues to document I referred to the timeline created during research (Figure 1 pg.6) which shows when there was a change in either the editor or publisher for both magazines. I tried to ensure I had the first and last issues of when either the editor or publisher changed. Unfortunately, there was not access to every issue, meaning some of the editor and publisher’s first additions to the magazine are missed. In this case, the earliest accessible issue after a change, was selected for analysis. As they are a quarterly magazine (Eye) and a bimonthly, turned quarterly magazine (IDEA), the issues selected are still within a year of the change. John L Walters, the current editor of Eye, describes a magazine as being

‘more than ‘content’. It is an artefact, a style choice, a treat, a mini-poster, a source of comfort or of tribal allegiance, and a way to shape thoughts and test opinions.’ (Walters, 2018). This illustrates the importance of the graphic elements of a magazine to entice and retain the reader, and therefore the need to develop a relevant style suited to the culture of the time and place of the magazine. The foundation of a magazine starts with the societal experiences of the editors, fine tuned into information and articles they believe will resonate the most with their audience. Therefore, the deconstruction and analysis of the magazines discloses reflections of the cultures at the time. Exploring the building blocks of Eye and IDEA will reveal how the cultures changed over time and in turn how these shifts in culture informed design decisions. In this analysis, the design elements are focused on more than the content, because the goal is to discover how and why the principles of graphic design change when faced with an ever-evolving audience, how much is carried forward from the past, along with how and when rules are broken to try to stand out. This essay will cover an explanation as to why these magazines were chosen, the history of both magazines and their contemporary predecessors, an explanation of the visual grammar that will be explored, the analysis of both magazines, a comparison of the changes found and a conclusion. Altogether this should inform the reader of the historical context alongside informed explanations of visual developments.

The limitations of my methods include the fact that visual grammar and the elements that constitute the pages ‘offer not a mirror of the world but an interpretation of it.’ (Midalia 1999 p. 131) and thus this essay cannot be taken as fact, but only as an interpretation of the surrounding culture at the time. I have made assumptions on the social semiotics of both, whilst only belonging to one culture myself. During the research process I also had to translate some papers and magazine articles from Japanese to English. Due to the lack of availability of every issue and the inability to analyse every single page, the elements photographed would be found in every issue, such as the cover, contents page and a recurring double page spread section. The sample collected is visually analysed and informed assumptions are made based on the visual changes, combined with secondary research. This includes interviews, editorials and articles from the editors themselves. Finding quotes from the older editors of IDEA proved difficult and so points are evidenced from the more recent editors speaking about the past. The selection process does mean there is a risk of generalisation and dilution of what happened over the course of both magazines’ histories. In order to limit this possibility, I have ensured a range of issues were reviewed and my research also covered more than what is shown within the analysis. This was done in an effort to visually see if any major changes occurred outside my original selection. Evidence of this research can be found in the appendix with the timelines of every contents page of every issue for both magazines (Figs. 45, 46).

Why compare Eye and IDEA?

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