The Village and Prudence

windowgazer

Two recently launched magazines. One paper and with dubious design skills employed, the other glossy and thick, easy to read and only 30% adverts.
Both €2.95. Discuss!

OfflerCrocGod

windowgazer wrote:

Discuss!

Why?

ballooba

I found the glossy chaffed my bumbum and didn't even leave it that clean.

monument

One paper and with dubious design skills employed

Village? Dubious design skills? It’s pretty much like (and was designed by the same people as) the Sunday Tribune (the winner of Europe's Best-designed Weekly Newspaper, apparently) – but it depends if you like a slight twist to simple newspaper-like design, or not.

Can really comment on Prudence – well, I don’t normally read woman’s magazines, but why on earth would one want to compare a woman’s (fashion-beauty-interiors-travel-lifestyle-personal finance-food) magazine to a politics and current affairs focused magazine?

flogen

windowgazer wrote:

Two recently launched magazines. One paper and with dubious design skills employed, the other glossy and thick, easy to read and only 30% adverts.
Both €2.95. Discuss!

Do you want to elaborate there? Perhaps give your own view point on each one and what it effect its launch will have?

flogen

windowgazer

monument wrote:

why on earth would one want to compare a woman’s (fashion-beauty-interiors-travel-lifestyle-personal finance-food) magazine to a politics and current affairs focused magazine?

.... Right, my point is that I was really looking forward to the new mag but was very disappointed (and so were many people I discussed it with) when I saw the form of Village. The photo quality is below standard and for €2.95 I would expect a better quality paper (in the aesthetic sense of course). This is where the comparison with Prudence comes in. I know that the financial resources in the village are under pressure but I had hoped for something a little bit glossier.
I bought the first two issues and then gave up: Mary Harney as a launch cover girl... reviewing Wuthering Heights in the book section... getting the public to do their work (requests for obits). I would prefer if it were smaller, and more concentrated on a few issues than trying to spread itself too thin. It had billed itself as a rival the the Irish Times mag on a saturday but it has undertaken to do much more than that and has ultimately failed.

chewy

i really don't care how it presented, content is king !

worth buying...

simu

monument wrote:

Can really comment on Prudence – well, I don’t normally read woman’s magazines, but why on earth would one want to compare a woman’s (fashion-beauty-interiors-travel-lifestyle-personal finance-food) magazine to a politics and current affairs focused magazine?

Prudence isn't a good name for a magazine in the first place. I assume it will be dealing a lot with fashion etc so the title brings to mind articles along the lines of "Careful now, don't want that dress to be too glitzy..."

flogen

windowgazer wrote:

.... Right, my point is that I was really looking forward to the new mag but was very disappointed (and so were many people I discussed it with) when I saw the form of Village. The photo quality is below standard and for €2.95 I would expect a better quality paper (in the aesthetic sense of course). This is where the comparison with Prudence comes in. I know that the financial resources in the village are under pressure but I had hoped for something a little bit glossier.
I bought the first two issues and then gave up: Mary Harney as a launch cover girl... reviewing Wuthering Heights in the book section... getting the public to do their work (requests for obits). I would prefer if it were smaller, and more concentrated on a few issues than trying to spread itself too thin. It had billed itself as a rival the the Irish Times mag on a saturday but it has undertaken to do much more than that and has ultimately failed.

So you're saying that you were disapointed with The Village because it's not a magazine, but instead its a newspaper?
I agree that the front page isn't great in a design sense (I hate the title design), but otherwise its quite good. From what I've read of it that applies to content too.

flogen

jrey1981

Has anyone been disappointed with the content of Village or is it just me?

One week it had two pages of speech from the Dail - I mean is that really exciting, informative, challenging, investigative content?

It lacks an investigative edge in my opinion...

Until it gets better I won't buy it and I suspect others may do the same.

windowgazer

yeh. I think its just a general disappointment I have with the magazine. If it was good I'd relish it each week. But it isn't living up to it's own publicity machine.

Brenner

Wow, I liked the village alot, sure it comes across as a touch on the activist side but, I found it refreshing to see news that doesn't just have a 3day shelf life, its nice and subversive, I like the sense of humour and touch of journalistic integrity

big up to the fact that there is a very low ratio of ads to print -

flogen

Yeah, I like it too, it's worth noting that it is left wing, though. Saying that it doesnt mean the stories aren't good, they usually are. With the often dubious quality of Irish papers it might be a better idea to pay the €2.95 once a week instead of €1.50 a day

flogen

Alanna

I have just read Prudence for the first time and was quite impressed. It is not in fact a run-of-the-mill womens glossy. They usually showcase hideously expensive clothes and lifestyle products, Prudence, refreshingly, promotes affordable style and avoids being aspirational. I enjoyed it and I feel that in rip-off Ireland there is probably a place for it.

star gazer

The Village magazine in the last couple of issues has had a bit of bite to it.