Online Mags

Lonny Magazine

For some time, I've been promising my mom a post of some of my favorite on-line magazines that are becoming increasingly popular...and plentiful. At the closing of so many of our favorite printed magazines, these come as a very welcome treat...and they're free! While I do love to hold a printed magazine in my hands, there is no denying that these online magazines are quite revolutionary. I love being able to click on a featured product that I like, and be able to link to the website where it's available for purchase...it takes shopping to a whole new level! And, I imagine that the advertisers themselves must love this feature. It allows them to track views from the publications they're advertising in.

Also, if an online magazine is doing a feature on a designer, or blogger, who, in turn has a blog or website, you are easily able to click on a link provided and find out more about them and their work. They are also unique in that they have the capability to embed video streams into the magazine that traditional printed mags obviously can't do. There is endless exploring to be done, and now that my mother HAS the link to some of my on-line favorites, I imagine she will be spending quite some time on her computer! (Have fun, mom!)

These on-line magazines are not hindered by many of the operating costs of a printed magazine. For instance, an on-line magazine is not limited to a certain page count, they could include any length article, or any number of photographs or illustrations they want. They have limited staff, and no overhead office costs.

A couple weeks a, the New York Times published an interesting article about four of these online mags: Lonny, Rue, Matchbook, and High Gloss. I found the tone of the article somewhat flip...it seemed that the writer didn't give enough credit to the extraordinary women creating these publications. The women who started these magazines are all quite young, and have not had extensive professional experience in a traditional magazine/publishing setting. The editor-in-chief, and co-founder of Lonny, Michelle Adams, was an assistant at Domino when the magazine folded. Her lack of traditional experience didn't stop her from creating this amazing online magazine which now has close to 250,000 readers. I give her a huge amount of credit for creating a wonderful product out of what was probably an upsetting job loss. Good for her!

If you do read the New York Times article, you might also be interested to read what Grace Bonney of the popular blog Design*Sponge had to say about it. She wrote a thought provoking post from the viewpoint of a very successful design blogger.

In summary, I find these magazines to be a treat, and hope that you all enjoy them too, especially if you are not already familiar with some of them. Just click on the covers below and enjoy!

http://www.lonnymag.com/