Speak and Wired are both San Francisco based printed magazines. Both target a young, educated audience and rely heavily on the design to pull readers. Both have an on-line presence at www.speakmag.com/speakmag and www.hotwired.com respectively.

Speak is a low circulation (50,000) publication launched in 1995 initially covering art, fashion, music, fiction and film. Published bimonthly, it set up an on-line presence with Issue No.2 in 1996 and updates the site with the publication of each issue.Wired in contrast, is a monthly magazine with a huge international circulation (330,000), launched in 1992, aimed at a young computer literate audience. It became an established print magazine before actually venturing to the web, in 1994.

Both have used the web in different ways within their publication, but both have been successful. It is evident that both Speak and Wired have different attitudes towards digital media and the role it plays within their publication.

WIRED MAGAZINE

Wired received much negative attention upon its launch in 1992 for its innovative design. Wired aimed to track down the future and then make it tangible to the readers. It was the first magazine of its kind, the first mass market magazine of the digital age, which became, according to Steven Heller, "the mouthpiece of the zeitgeist".49 Newsweek magazine described it as the "Rolling Stone of the computer generation".50

When considering the design of the magazine, questions the creative directors John Plunkett and Barbara Kuhr asked themselves included, "What does that invisible future look like? What does it feel like? Is the future good or bad, scary or friendly, a threat or a promise? And how does electronic ink look on paper?"51 Ironically, when faced with designing such a magazine, Wired had the task of translating the electronic media onto print. This thesis is primarily concerned with the process of bringing a printed magazine onto a digital medium. However Wired reversed this process by transferring digital to print before even considering the step from print to digital they took two years later.

Plunkett describes how they wanted to resolve the "inherent contradiction of using ink on paper in a fixed (old) medium to report on this energy filled, non-linear, asynchronous, electronic world." The result is a magazine with a strong identity, a colour palette of fluorescent inks, a striking logo and an unusual treatment of type and photographs. Figures 29 to 32 are a selection of spreads from Wired showing the diversity of photography, typography and colours. Wired can certainly not be considered a boring or unexciting read. The fluorescent ink has become part of the Wired brand and this is repeated on the covers and through to the subscription cards. These cards can be considered a souvenir or a postcard; a taster of the design style of any magazine. Wired often print these on high quality paper with expensive silvers and fluorescent inks. (see figures 33 & 34) The Wired logo is a mix of a traditional serif typeface for the "W", "R" and "D", and a sans serif face for the "I" and the "E". (see figures 35) It is a consistent logo, changing only its colours or the position of some of the letters occasionally.

Wired wanted the magazine to be a premium priced magazine of $5 rather than the average $2 or $3. They wanted the magazine to be something a reader would want to collect as opposed to a magazine to throw away. When stacked on a shelf they are an attractive, interesting and eye-catching collection of spines. (see figure 36) Wired have successfully played upon this idea of collecting the magazine. For their February 1999 issue, they issued four different covers, each a different colour and with a different illustration by the creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening. (see figure 37)

The covers of Wired are well renowned. Reminiscent of the "concept" covers of the golden age right through to the fifties and sixties, they stand out next to any magazine on the shelf, not to mention against the banal competition from other computer and "tecchie" magazines. Figures 38 to 41 show some of the more innovative and eye catching covers that have been produced.

Wired has come under heavy criticism for the design within the covers. It has been said that the text is too layered, the magazine is not reader friendly and the day-glo colours just hide information rather than illuminate it.52 However, Plunkett in his defence, says that the "trendy typography" and "visual noise" is only on 10/12 pages of the magazine, any more and it would be boring. He says nobody seems to realise that the rest of the magazine is quite traditional. Indeed Wired is quite traditional underneath the bright colours and typography. It follows a traditional magazine model, with departmentals, a main feature well, followed by more departmentals. Steven Heller agrees, saying that Wired is not revolutionary, experimental, or cutting edge, but it is "of the moment". Wired is emblematic of an era, an ethos and generation.53

SPEAK MAGAZINE

Speak magazine was initially a magazine which covered art, fashion, music, fiction and film but which has changed throughout the years to concentrate more on fiction, music and culture. It aims to "offer young adults an intelligent alternative to what that audience usually gets". 6 The design is of huge importance within the magazine and art director, Martin Venezky's style is described as being "ideally suited" to Speak.55 Publisher and editor, Dan Rolleri admits that the design is a major pull factor for his readership. "A magazine about art and literature isn't necessarily the sort of thing that young people go looking for - good design brings that audience in."56

Speak has published just thirteen issues since its launch, with each issue individually titled normally in accordance with the cover. From this, each issue has a strong identity with consistent imagery, usually drawn from one of the features, which is then used on the contents page, the credits page and the subscription page and cards. This imagery has often carried over to the website, and is often animated. For example, in issue no. 4 ("the red issue"), the saucepans used on the Mark E. Smith interview, were used on the cover and were animated and used as the navigating tool on the website for that issue. (see figures 42 & 43) Each saucepan when clicked, was a link to a different feature within the site. (see figures 44 & 45) Similarly in Issue No. 7 ("Skull & Crossbones"), the cover spawned a spread in the magazine and was used as the first page of the website, animated with sound. (see figures 46-47)

SPEAK ON-LINE (www.speakmag.com/speakmag)

For Speak the transition to the web has been a hesitant one. The website was initially considered a tool for extending the printed magazine. Gradually the site lessened the amount of text and features on-line and created more of a multimedia experience, taking elements of the printed magazine and visualising them on-line. However Speak has now gone a full circle, and with its most recent issue, the site has been completely redesigned and is now more mainstream and information-based.

In its early days Speak had a more visual audience and was more art and design based. It was an audience which would have been on the Internet a lot and as Martin Venezky, art director of Speak says, "the website only exists because we felt we had to do something on the web." 57 The Speak website went on line with Issue No. 2, titled "Cool Ass", which was designed by David Carson. In this issue the editorial appeared on a double spread in the printed magazine, titled "Continued on the Web". (see figure 48) It was essentially two separate sections of a complete article and without access to the web it was unreadable and senseless. (see figure 49) The first sentence of the article, which appears on the website reads,

"In a linear world this would be the first sentence of the magazine. But we're not a liner world anymore, and the first sentence can be anywhere it wants. In this case it is here."58

It goes on to cite the major reasons it decided to build a web presence,

"The ability to build a community on the web...that and the freedom from linear formats are enough to convince us to dive into (the web).. ...that's enough to make us want to bring along the rest of the readers, even those most scared or dismissive of technology." 59

Dan Rolleri recently reflecting on this feature, considers it,

"part of a (failed) concept to continue certain articles and the editor's note on the website. There was absolutely no reason for it, except that we thought it was "innovative". But mainly, I think, it was an inconvenience for the reader." 60

Although Rolleri considers this experiment a failure, it is this sort of content crossover, but not overlapping and repeating that will ensure the success of any magazine website.

In its earlier sites Speak used the web to its fullest advantage, publishing an on-line survey, adding articles which were not printed in the magazine and in issue no. 8, titled "Vacancy", there was a feature titled "The Photograph as Evidence". Due to space restrictions, only four spreads were devoted to showing photographs in the printed magazine. (see figure 50) However, the web allows unlimited storage of such material and many extra were available for viewing on-line. (see figure 51)

Gradually the Speak website changed in format. It began to play even more on the imagery used in the magazine. The design of the website was taken over from issue 10 by Mark Shepherd of Brutal Gift & Co., a design and illustration firm. From here on the website is much more of a "multimedia" experience. More sound and animation was added and less extended features from the printed magazine appeared. For example, in Issue No. 12, oranges were used for more than one feature article and both the contents and credits page in the printed magazine. (see figure 52-53) These were animated and used in different forms on the website.(see figure 54 & 55) Rolleri describes these sites as "a good and playful extension of the visual characteristics of the printed magazine."61

Speak is by no means a conventional site. It does not have consistent navigation with each issue, nor an obvious logo. The site, intentional or not, provides more of an experience rather than a hugely informative visit. The navigation is not always apparent and many users feel lost. In a survey carried out for this thesis, nearly all of those surveyed felt lost and they didn't know what they were clicking on. The site also takes a long time to download and it certainly does not cater for the lowest common denominator. This was another criticism of the site in this survey. Shepherd, designer of the Speak website, admits he tends "to go with the high bandwidth - unfortunately for some", but he tries to "make the images work by eliminating colours and simplifying a lot."62

Speak also does not give their user an immediate context. Upon arriving at the site it is not apparent what it is or does. It is not obvious to a visitor that there is a printed magazine to which the site relates. It is possible that the site would only make sense having read the printed magazine. For this reason the website is only advertised within the magazine, and is quite hard to stumble across while just "surfing". Venezky says that "many who visit the site don't seem to realise that their (there) is a printed magazine that everything is referring to."63

Both Venezky and Rolleri, in recent interviews, have said that the website is "in the overall scheme of things...not very important."64 Both stated that they are not sure if the visitors to the website are a true reflection of the readership of the printed magazine. For this reason they do not devote as much time or energy to the website as to the printed magazine, and while they compromise somewhat on the website, due to the technical limitations, they "would be much more disappointed if (they) had to compromise the quality of the printed piece".65 Rolleri said he would like the website "to better serve the typical Speak reader."66

It is ironic that during this time when those at Speak were obviously dissatisfied with the website, the website was advertised more and more within the printed magazine. Half page ads were regularly devoted to encouraging their readers to visit Speak on-line, where there was only "pretty picture and no annoying text which makes your head hurt." (see figures 56-58)

In a more recent interview Rolleri mentioned that the website was to be redesigned in the near future. "The new site will be information only (upcoming issues, contact information, submission guidelines, editorial updates, etc.) and will have nothing in the way of design."67 This change is evident in the most recent issue of Speak. The site is now a basic page containing a list of the contents in the current issue, and links to a subscription page; an editorial page; a feedback page; and a page of relevant links. This is not the first time Rolleri has reworked Speak design. Early on with the printed magazine, Speak considered that the readership was of an art and design background and weren't actually reading the magazine. Worried that Speak was just "eye-candy" for it's buyers, and wanting the audience to be more literary-inclined, the design was "toned down" and the editorial was "reworked".

This latest reworking of the site will probably appease those surfers who have felt lost in the site up to now, but it certainly not as visually exciting as their previous sites. (see figure 59) The Speak website has seen many phases of development in a short space of time; as a means to continue features and discussion on-line; as a visual extension of the printed magazine; and as a promotion-based informative site. Speak has experimented with many different ways to present their magazine on-line, but seems to have settled on a format which is merely a promotion for the printed magazine with no net content anymore.

In an early editorial, the staff describe how they decided to do Speak because it was fun. "We get the chance to go out on limbs, push the limits of what can and can't be done."20 However it now seems that the website does not fall under the same criteria.

WIRED ON-LINE (www.hotwired.com)

Wired's on-line presence, Hotwired, was launched in 1994. The website is an archive for material published in the magazine but also has its own net specific content. There is a Wired News section which is updated daily and whose archives are stored on-line; a search engine; a trouble-shooting site with technical help for designing and building your own website and other computer functions. The website is a hugely commercial website which although spawned from the printed magazine has branched away from the magazine in some respects. The magazine was sold recently to Conde Nast Publications responsible for Vogue, Esquire and other international glossies, Hotwired remains unchanged and still under the sole direction of Wired Digital. The two publications are still consistent in content and design. The website uses a similar logo and colour scheme as the magazine, and the Wired magazine on-line section is updated with the release of each issue. The archives of old issues are available free of charge, which for a magazine of this type (with information and technology based content) is unusual. Magazines such as The Economist charge for a membership to access their archives.

The website is a very complete and complex site and so navigation is not always clear. www.hotwired.com acts as the homepage and a central navigating page which is a stepping stone to the other satellite sites. (see figure 60) It contains a rectangular section for each of the main sections: Wired News, RGB Gallery, Animation Express and Webmonkey. There are also links to www.hotbot.com, www.suck.com, archives, wired magazine on-line and other facilities. The homepage is quite cluttered due to the multitude of links available, and this can be quite confusing for a new visitor. When surveyed about the homepage, some comments given were, "needs to be streamlined and sectioned", "too many options and no focus point". Others felt that it was good that all the options were available on the one page, and that it was easy to navigate. Obviously this is a matter of taste; what individuals look for in a site is entirely subjective.

Hotwired was the first website to serve web banners. These banners are a type of digital poster placed on sites to advertise other sites or products. These banners are then links to the relevant sites or product. Early Internet users declared them ineffective and determined to ignore them but advertisers persisted to the extent that later research suggests that banners can be a very useful tool in attracting passing traffic.69 However, these banners often clutter up a homepage, and this is certainly the case with Hotwired. Often animated and consisting of bright colours, they tend to detract the user's eye from the page contents of the actual site. They are usually not sympathetic to each other and often look as though they are competing.

Within each section, there is a consistent layout, with a navigation bar particular to the section on the left, a drop down box at the top for instant access to other sections within Hotwired, and the main text down the middle. (see figure 61 & 62) The text is overwhelming in quantity, but easy to read if desired. Obviously the subject matter is quite specialised and so not every visitor will be enticed to read the text, but for the interested user it is laid out in a reader-friendly way. It is no more than two eye spans wide, and mostly black text on white. (see figure 63) However, it requires quite a bit of scrolling which can be tiring on the user and their eyes. For this reason most users decide to print long articles out rather than read off the screen. Wired facilitate this trend by having an option to print the text only without the navigation options and banners. When surveyed, 60% of people said they printed articles out rather than read them off a screen. This is a phenomenon that Wired have catered well for.

The colours used on the Wired website are reminiscent of the printed magazine's. There are bright colours, similar to the printed magazine, but this does not always work. Often they use red, purple or green text on a black background, and this is impossible and infuriating to read.

The Wired website is a stark contrast to the Speak website. Wired is a clearly functional site, aimed at a commercial audience and very influenced by advertising. It is a site which can exist independently of the printed magazine. Speak, on the other hand, needs the magazine to give the site a context. It is also not commercially orientated, with no advertising on the site.

Wired has used its site to provide its users with an informative and educational visit. The abundance of archives and technical detail and help available is phenomenal. Speak is a site which, up to the recent reworking, aimed to give the user an experience. It aimed to use the site as an accompaniment to the magazine, similar to the Colors magazine website. This latest reworking is perhaps a response to criticism, similar to that received in the surveys for this thesis.70 This new site provides the user immediately with information and perhaps as Rolleri expressed earlier, it will "better serve the typical Speak reader".71

However, both Speak and Wired have realised the possibilities for incorporating digital media into an existing publication. They have complemented, not repeated nor overshadowed, both the design and content of the printed magazines.

49. Heller, op. cit., p. 109

50. Ken Coupland, Portrait of Wired Ventures, Graphis, Vol. 53 No. 310, July/Aug 1997

51. Steven Heller, Interview with John Plunkett, Eye magazine, Vol. 7 summer 1998

52. Coupland, op. cit.

53. Heller, op. cit. p. 109

54. Paula Carson, American Voyeur, Creative Review July 1998

55. Andrea Kavanagh, in conversation with Dan Rolleri, 12/1/99, Appendix 5

56. Carson, op.cit.

57. Andrea Kavanagh, in conversation with Martin Venezky, 15/11/98, Appendix 6

58. Speak website: www.speakmag.com/speakmag/html/covers96.html visited - 9/2/1999

59. ibid

60. Appendix 5, op. cit.

61. Appendix 2, op.cit.

62. Andrea Kavanagh, in conversation with Mark Shepherd, 29/11/98, Appendix 7

63. Appendix 6, op.cit.

64. ibid

65. ibid

66. Appendix 2, op.cit.

67. Appendix 5, op.cit.

68. Speak website: www.speakmag.com/speakmag/html/covers96.html visited - 9/2/1999

69. Faber, op. cit., intro.

70. see appendix 8

71. Appendix 2, op. cit.