The success of a magazine on-line is relevant to both the aim of the site, and the aim of the user. What does the publisher want from their site? Who are they aiming it at and what do they think their users want. What does the user actually want? Do they want to hunt for information, do they want to find it easily or do they just want a digital experience?

THE PUBLISHER

To produce a successful website the publisher must decide whether it will be a version of the magazine on-line, with the articles and features contained in the printed magazine, or separate from the printed magazine with different content and features. Alternatively will it just be supplementary to the printed magazine; a subscription site or merely an advert for the magazine. Only when this is established can we begin to evaluate the success of an on-line magazine. Rolleri of Speak, claims that "mostly printed magazines use their sites as another marketing vehicle for themselves or their advertisers." 39

GQ, Men's Health, Esquire and Empire have all fallen prey to the "put anything on the web, just as long as we put something on" mentality. (see figure 18) They are like the corporate companies unwilling to fall behind the trend and risk condemnation from the publishing world. So instead they build a site which has no net content and there is nothing to entice the user to return. It looks like it was designed by static print designers who did not take advantage of digital media and all of its benefits. These sites do nothing to excite the user and they are effectively a taster on-line of what the printed magazine is like and about. In fact many magazines take this option and simply use the net to promote the printed magazine. It is estimated from a study by the Magazine Publishers of America that 75 % of publishers are using the Web for promotion of their printed publications, rather than profit.40

Blue magazine on-line is such an example. Clearly it aims to do nothing more than advertise the magazine and win subscriptions but one can¹t help feeling disappointed with the site having read the magazine. The printed magazine is a beautifully designed magazine dealing with travel and "adventure lifestyle". Heavy on typography, photography and colour, all trademarks of its design consultant David Carson, it provides the reader with not only pleasurable reading but an experience. The magazine is full of excitement and movement, true to it¹s content. Figs 19 to 22 show a selection of spreads from the magazine featuring articles on rock-climbing, surfing, and snow boarding. In contrast the website is static and boring. Although nicely designed, involving clever use of frames and clear navigation, it leaves a regular Blue reader cheated. The site, aesthetically is nice, but it does not do justice to the design and content of the printed magazine. (see figures 23 & 24) The magazine claims to be new, innovative and at the forefront of all adventure, lifestyle magazines. So one can not help but wonder if the site could not follow in these footsteps then why bother build a site at all?

However, Blue magazine is by no means alone. Vogue, Esquire, GQ, Empire and FHM, are all examples of a static website. Uninviting homepages followed by uninspiring and unexciting design does nothing to entice the user to return or even stay. (see figure 25) There is no level of interactivity; no need for scrolling or discovery; no sense of surprise or excitement. What we see is literally all we get. In one sense, however, they have realised the immediacy of the web, most have a "today" section which is updated daily, but this is all that would encourage a user to return. (see figure 26)

Vogue UK publisher, Stephen Quinn, at a lecture in Dublin recently, compared the Vogue website, to an "information pack of what¹s in the magazine". The only net content is "Vogue Daily", which is an output of editorial material from the online editorial staff and this is updated separately from the printed magazine. He went on to describe the website as a "truncated" version of the printed magazine, and it was nowhere near as dynamic an experience as when you opened the printed magazine. He said, the high quality of "sassy and dynamic" photography, "exclusive to Vogue", is completely lost on the Internet.

The maintenance of a site is an important factor. It must be regularly updated in order to keep the user returning. Blue falls down heavily in this department; it has not been updated in nearly a year. In contrast magazines such as Wired, Mix, Speak,Vibe, FHM, Vogue, Colors magazine are all updated daily or at least in accordance with each issue.

Colors magazine is an example of good use of digital media to compliment a printed piece. Colors magazine is sponsored by the Benetton organisation and the magazine was launched in 1992 to a reception of both criticism and applause. It is based on the ethos that "diversity is good". Tibor Kalman, the designer behind Colors for the first twelve issues, explains that they aimed,

"to do articles about things that could be relevant everywhere - like snacks, garbage and haircuts. It¹s what I like to call "contemporary anthropology"; that quality of life on the planet in the present." 41

To this extent each issue takes on a major social issue, such as war, race, travel and smoking, and documents how a common idea unfolds around the world. 42 The magazine is not traditional in terms of format, with formalised sections or departments with separate articles or features. It has often been referred to as a "manifesto". 43

The Colors website is updated with each issue and is in keeping with the theme of the printed magazine. (see figure 27 & 28) The site brings to life elements of the printed magazine with heavy use of animation and sound. Tom Hobbs, Art Director of the Colors website, explains where the website fits into the overall scheme,

"It's a magazine about an idea, not a medium, the magazine provides an ethos, spirit and message thus delivers it with different character istics - The site is there to add something to the idea and be a sister to the print version: the site must be able to stand on it¹s own. Of course it has other practical advantages, but we see these as by-products not as a reason to build the site." 44

It is evident from this that Colors' primary objective is to spread a message to its readers and users, and the benefits cited by other magazines are merely a bonus.

In order to view the site it is necessary to download the plug-in, Shockwave, and a computer with a high screen resolution and a fast modem connection is preferable. By this Colors are eliminating a lot of potential viewers, but Hobbs defends this choice arguing, "what you would gain in having more people being able to access the site you would lose double in effectiveness". He goes on to emphasise that in "finding the best way of presenting the content, the intention is never to exclude anyone unnecessarily."45

The Colors website is a great example of what is possible on the web for a printed magazine; it entertains, informs and excites the user. Hopefully with the continuing fast developments in this industry it will not be long before everyone will be able to view these types of sites, and exclusion due to technological limitations will be minimal.

THE USER

The success of a site from a user's point of view is entirely subjective. Whether or not it is a success depends on what one wants from the site. The average user just looking for information will obviously have different needs and preferences than for example, a business person, or a person from an art or design background. Surfing the net is different for each individual. The very word surfing implies a repeated journey, i.e. you reach the shore and then paddle back for another go but you are always covering the same stretch of water, it is what happens along the way that makes it fun.46 The journey is often more enjoyable then the destination. It is this same journey that everyone has to take but it is our backgrounds which often determine how much we enjoy the journey. Corporate companies have often been criticised for producing boring or unimaginative sites. According to Daniel Donnelly, "It did not occur to many businesses to make the web something more than a hunt for information."47 However, if someone sits down to find something in particular on the web, it is just like going to a library to research, and "maybe it (the web) does not have to be more exciting than that."48 Websites whose purpose is to distribute basic information quickly can be a lot more simple than sites that are aiming to create a rich on-line experience.

39. Appendix 2, op.cit.

40. Ernst & Young, (Nua Internet Surveys) , op.cit.

41. Liz Farrelly, Tibor Kalman: Design and Undesign, Thames & Hudson, UK, 1998, Pg. 54

42. Colors website: www.colorsmagazine.com, visited 9/2/1999

43. Liz Farrelly, op. cit., Pg. 52

44. Andrea Kavanagh, in conversation with Tom Hobbs, 15/2/98, Appendix 4

45. ibid

46. Faber, op.cit., intro

47. Donnelly, op.cit., Pg. 50

48. Faber, op.cit., intro