Period Piece Design Brief

Period Piece

Creative Brief

Gabrielle DutzDesign DevelopmentMay 04, 2010

Overview of

Overview of The ProjectEssentially, Period Piece is a web-based vintage magazine service that seeks to combine past and present technologies to provide users the experience of unlimited access to rare publishing content, for both personal as well as professional uses, and the ability to manage that content in a contemporary and convenient manor.

The Project is...A way for people to become even more connected to their inspirations. Period Piece allows its users to more efficiently and meaningfully create personal narratives through imagery. Period Piece is also a means for the publishing industry to become relevant once again, as it taps the unparalleled artistic expression that has been produced in the medium throughout its existence and frames it in the context of technology, making it more accessible and appealing to current consumers.

Overview of

ConceptionThe concept of Period Piece was thought up based upon two clear needs:

1) The lack of availability of physical vintage published content. As traditional brick and mortars die out, the remnants of magazines that are available are, in most cases, in poor shape at moderately affordable prices or are in mint condition and extremely expensive and thus inaccessible.

2) The absence of a web-based service in which a large range of images are available in tandem with a coherent, simple system of collection and management, with the objective of benefiting a user and aiding them in their personal as well as professional collections of inspiration.

Root MessageUpon further examination of this creative brief, the core message that should be taken away is the need for more availability of vintage publishing content, as it was and has the potential to become once again, one of the most compelling and expressive forms of mass media. Within this framework of availability, the potential for people to have an innovative place to store and personally arrange inspi-ration materials has the power to positively effect the art and design world and inspire a positive human experiencethat incorporates creative practices.

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Scope of ServicesWith the intention of making this project as successful as possible, the most effective approach of offering vintage content while simultaneously increasing availability is to make the service wholly web-based. Thus, services offered are essentially the various features and components of the web site, which include:

• Vintage publication content in art and design fields• A highly organized and personal system of arranging

and maintaining a portfolio of images • The option to obtain images of the user’s choice or to

view issues in their entirety• The ability to select images or issues and have high

quality prints sent to their home, in a matter of days • A tiered subscription program, allowing for the maximum

potential of users, at a range of price points, to utilize and patronize the site

• Connections to local, physical vintage retailers in the subscriber’s area

• Suggestion of similar titles or images that the user requested

Overview of

Mission StatementPeriod Piece exists to benefit creative people seeking inspiration from vintage publishing content. Our prop-osition is to offer a more efficient and intelligent way in which to obtain vintage resource material. Period Piece also offers its customers a comprehensive and logical place in which to store and arrange their per-sonal inspirations, offering a unique, substantial value to its customers.

Overview of

Deliverables NeededIn order to successfully execute Period Piece, the following must be produced/completed:

The Project is...A way for people to become even more connected to their inspirations. Period Piece allows its users to more efficiently and meaningfully create personal narratives through imagery. Period Piece is also a means for the publishing industry to become relevant once again, as it taps the unparalleled artistic expression that has been produced in the medium throughout its existence and frames it in the context of technology, making it more accessible and appealing to current consumers.

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GoalsIn order to consider Period Piece a successful endeavour in terms of its execution, the following goals need to be met:

• The concept is taken from infancy to development, as shown through detailed documentation of process

• Research and careful analysis of areas relating to this project is completed in order to be as knowledgeable and successful as possible

• A comprehensive creative brief, outlining all the nec-essary explanations and components of the project, is completed

• A presentation outlining the pertinent information of the project is created


ScheduleInitially, a schedule was developed on March 23, 2010 to chart out the steps that needed to be taken to culminate the project. After class, the critiques and other informa-tion that was provided there, a second five week plan was developed. While mindful of the importance of schedul-ing and preparation, the fact is that most of what was planned out will be addressed in the brief. Primarily, the objective of the project at this point is to prepare it for examination and consumption by outside parties. However, to illustrate the tasks that need to be executed, below is the revised five week schedule:


The Challenge

In recognizing the need for the development of the Period Piece concept, certain challenges were found. In clearly defining these said challenges, the intention is to learn from previous mistakes or difficulties and create a service that properly and effectively fulfills a need in the publishingmarket. These challenges include practical considerations such as:


The Competition

Many of the same things that helped form the basis of the challenges in developing the Period Piece concept came out of researching things that had come before it. By clearly defining predecessors, Period Piece is able to be developed in a manor that more satisfactorily answers crucial questions such as “Who are we designing for and what competes for their attention?” and “How does the category engage creatively and how could we challenge this?”

Many of the same things that helped form the basis of the challenges in developing the Period Piece


Maghound

“MAGHOUND Enterprises Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Time Inc., is an online-based magazine membership service that will improve the way consumers purchase their magazines by incorporating flexibility, choice, and control. MAGHOUND will modernize the traditional circulation model by relieving the constraints of standard subscription contracts and empowering the consumer. On the MAGHOUND web site, members can select up to 15 magazines from a broad range of titles represented by dozens of major publishers for one set monthly fee, with the availability to switch titles at any time. MAGHOUND is a novel approach that begins with the consumer’s needs, provides them with unlimited choices and delivers highly engaged readers to advertisers. Memberships can be entirely managed online, as well as by e-mail and phone, from changing magazine title selections to updating personal information and even placing magazine delivery on hold temporarily.

Additionally, MAGHOUND users will be able to view the titles that are available for a specific month and the expected date of arrival. Since some magazine do not publish an issue every single month, MAGHOUND offers its members the optional benefit of selecting “Substitute” titles, delivered whenever their primary title is not available. From an ad sales and circulation tracking standpoint, all titles sold will be classified as single-copy sales. From a revenue sharing perspective, MAGHOUND will pay the publishers a fixed fee for every copy of each title that is sold. It’s an idea that will be a winner for consumers, publishers, and readers.”

-Excerpts from MAGHOUND launch press release


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“There is a need for new and innovative ways to reach consumers, particularly online”

-John Squires, Executive VP Time Inc.

“We’ve witnessed consumer-friendly purchasing models develop in several other media categories.” -Dave Ventresca, President of MAGHOUND Enterprises Inc.


Criticisms of Maghound

“MAGHOUND is yet to deliver, representing just 1% of individual magazine subscriptions”

“The reasons for MAGHOUND’s low profile even after several months was pinned on Time Inc.’s desire to fix some of the system’s bugs before it put much marketing muscle behind it.”

“While publishers appreciate Time Inc.’s willingness to try something to build up flagging magazine subscriptions, the lack of resources makes the initiative appear half- hearted. Part of the problem may be that Time Inc. continues to struggle, as most magazine publishers are, it’s difficult for execs to devote scarce resources to a new initiative.”

“MAGHOUND won’t have all the most desirable magazines. At least one major publishing house hasn’t signed up, nor have a few of the lesser that nevertheless have desirable titles.”

“Unlike Netflix, fulfillment won’t be in 1 or 2 days. It’s more likely weeks. And even longer when a fulfillment is from a house other than Time.”



“For Time, it’s not as winning a model as for Netflix, because it doesn’t buy the magazine once and the right to use it time and again, plus logistics and handling. Also, postage for magazines are considerably more expensive compared to the well-engineered DVD packages Netflix devised.”

“If people wanted digital editions or a web site, mobile edition, which Time might consider offering at a discount, or they would make some other digital access-for an “all you-can-eat” price, it might make more sense. Or if print- on-demand could be handled on a mass-customization level, where magazines were printed and bound quickly (and I mean like today), as they’re ordered...”

“In theory, the concept is great. It is the hope that MAGHOUND refines its model before September and gets closer to what people really want in 2008.”

-All criticism quotes are excerpts from articles on AdAge.com and rebuildingmedia.com

Criticisms of Maghound Continued


Gallagher’s“Since 1991, Gallagher’s on East 12th Street in New York City has been a favorite haunt of designers and art directors.”

“The gallery and archive of vintage magazines and prints was something of a mecca of inspiration, with more than one million vintage magazines and prints on hand.”

“But like so many things, a lease’s end and subsequent meteoric rise in rent has prompted Gallagher’s owner, Michael Gallagher, to close shop.”

“Gallagher and his wife, Mary, who runs the archive with him, will be shipping the magazines and prints by almost every major fashion photographer to their Catskills home, where they plan to store them in their barn, and continue to sell sets of magazines by special request and online at www.vintagemagazines.com. Gallagher’s is still taking orders for special sets of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.”



“Many designers will miss the place. On a regular day, one could descend the steep steps into Gallagher’s and find designers such as Anna Sui, Marc Jacobs, and John Galliano rifling through stacks of vintage fashion prints, and design teams fighting over sets of magazines like W, Interview, and Paris Match, as well as lesser known titles such as Charm and Status, and Diplomat. A fan of fashion photography, Gallagher collected issues of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar from the fifties and sixties. He made his first sale to renowned fashion photographer Steven Meisel, after the was introduced to the photographer by a friend, and used that money to start accumulating his extensive collection. Some collections were bequeathed to him. Liz Tilberis, the late editor in chief of Harper’s Bazaar, left him her set of vintage British Vogues, while Carrie Donovan of the New York Times gave him many of her books.”

“It’s so sad because it was like a treasure trove, especially for someone like me who collects magazines. I learned so much about magazines I didn’t know, and he had an in credible fashion library. One of my favorite things about it was always just exploring.”

-Anna Sui, fashion designer

Gallagher’s


“On a quiet street in the East Village, lies the magazine industry’s not-so-best-kept secret: Gallagher’s paper collectables. This store below the street houses a dizzying archive of vintage magazines-everything from 100 year old Harper’s Bazaar’s to a complete collection of Flair, a 1950’s magazine.”

“The actual buzz about Gallagher’s has less to do with the actual stash and more to do with who’s been in to rifle through it. Considered the muse of the fashion and design worlds, this is the place to spend an after noon if you’re dying to get a read on the next big de sign trend.”

“Real Simple’s creative director Robert Newman dropped in to pick up back issues of House and Garden and an array of women’s service magazines from the fifties. Newman, like his peers, says he was shopping for inspiration.”

“The design genius buried in Gallagher’s stacks can often be rediscovered on today’s magazine racks. But in this post modern age, judicious recycling isn’t about shameless copying. It’s a knowing wink to pop culture or an honest homage to great art direction from the past. It’s about riffing off of what’s worked in the past.”

Gallagher’s


“Why not reinvent what was beautiful?” asks the store’s owner Mike Gallagher

“In this dank retail shop, a 1960’s Vogue goes for $75 and a copy of Twen will cost you $125. One year, fashion designer Donna Karan dropped $150,000 on what amounts to old newsprint”

“Gallagher’s encyclopedic knowledge of his inventory has made him a valuable asset to the fashion world’s monied and fabulously chic.”

“Fashion’s corporate players most certainly know who Gallagher is. The fashion conglomerate LVMH recently made Gallagher a seven figure offer for the entire store. He turned it down.”

“The role Gallagher most relishes is historian.”

Gallagher’s


“Gallagher can trace the lineage of the most obscure design trends, and he takes pride in connecting the past with the present.”

“Artful adoption can be especially beneficial when constructing a new magazine. A flip through the musty classics can provide a touchstone for the next generation.”

“To me that is the most perfect kind of reference, where you look at stuff and adapt it to the modern day experience of reading a magazine.” -Creative Director Robert Newman

“Those who fail to graft modern techniques onto the borrowed past risk alienating audiences.”

“Referencing the visual past makes sense as a jumping off point, but an art director can’t ignore the problems and needs of the present.” -Esquire Magazine Design Director John Korpics

Gallagher’s

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continue to debate the appropriate, tactful and judicious practices of plundering from history, there are larger issues afoot.”

“Today, its the pressure of the bottom line that most impacts the look of a magazine. Its the pressure to sell newsstand copies, please advertisers, use thinner and cheaper paper, use less editorial pages, reduce overall size to fit into newsstand racks and make them cheaper to mail

-All Gallagher’s excerpts are from articles in The New York Times, Folio Magazine, and Women’s Wear Daily

Gallagher’s

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Execution Plan

The ways in which Period Piece will come to fruition is through, as also outlined in the Deliverables section of the brief, the following:


Variety of Content Offered

In moving towards a more developed and real-ized version of Period Piece, the first necessary step that needs to be taken is the determination of the content that will be offered on the sight. Initially, it was felt that only vintage fashion magazines would be offered. Ultimately, it was determined that in or-der to appeal to a wider audience and on order to more fully serve the intended purpose of the project, magazines in all creative realms would be offered. This includes art, advertising, photography, and even some music titles. While this may pose more of a challenge, in terms of obtaining content and the extra costs that it will incur, it is felt that Period Piece will serve more of a need and have wider appeal.



One of the most difficult aspects of making Period Piece a reality is the actual acquisition of so much vintage content. After weighing the pros and cons of both grass roots, meaning from local vintage dealers piecemeal, or corporate, meaning partnering with established publishing houses and working out some sort of distribution deal, approaches, it was determined that obtaining Period Piece’s vintage content through corporate methodologies would be best. The most persistent argument behind this was the fact that the archive of past work that publishing houses have are too rich to ignore. Below is a chart outlining the pros and cons of grassroot versus corporate acquisition methodlogies.



In carrying out the mission statement of Period Pieceand in seeking out as many customers as possible, a tiered level of subscription is felt to be the most efficient way to do this. While the content that Period Piece is offering is rareand there could be an argument that the subscription priceshould be weighted according to this, it was determined that Period Piece should have tiered levels of subscription,much in the same manor as the Netflix business model, allowing for more people to have incentive to use PeriodPiece. Below is a chart that outlines the level of subscription.

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User Needs In designing the website, the main form of communication, between Period Piece and its customers, a chart was devised, which breaks down user needs for the dual uses of Period Piece: Personal and Professional. In visualizing this, one can get a better sense of what these two worlds entail and how to blend them seamlessly.



Website Features

In developing a comprehensive and thorough prototype that does justice to the verbal content presented thus far, it is necessary to compile a list of all the features on the website, and in essence, whatmakes Period Piece unique.



Website Prototype

Below is the most realized and fully developed Protoype of the Period Piece Website.


Website Prototype

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Website Prototype



Website Prototype



Website Prototype



Website Prototype



Website Prototype


Target Audience

BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Geographic Location: Williamsburg, BrooklynAge: 25-30Gender: FemaleFamily Size: Single; No ChildrenIncome: $20,000-$30,000Housing Type: Rented, Shared ApartmentOccupation: Creative Professional (Graphic Designer, Stylist, Filmmaker)Education: College GraduateReligion: Not ReligiousRace/Ethnicity: CaucasianNationality: American (Second or Third Generation Immigrants; Irish, German, Polish, Italian


Target Audience

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

Social Class: currently lower-middle class but descends from an upper middle or possibly even a lower upper class background

Social Group Status: Part of a desirable crowd, thinks its cool to be a “social outcast”, even though Period Piece user has healthy and thriving social life. Living in the city makes her feel like an influencer to people she grew up with, who she looked down upon for their lack of professional aspirations. Has developed close relationships with a few friends and her particular social circle seems to have many people that overlap, as they are all interested in creative occupational endeavours. She has a strong group of weekend friends, that will always reconvene every Thursday night to go out all weekend

Target Audience

Personality and Self-Image: Sarcastic, dark, self-depricating sense of humor. Very organized and orderly, professionally speaking, but knows how to let go and take things as they come socially

Beliefs: Has a very strong passion for art and design. Driven by desirable aesthetics, which is why having a strong source of inspirations is very important to her. Has a very strong work ethic. Wants to seek out an unconventional path professionally through creative occupations. Is not at all interested in the corporate world and believes that it is the root of a lot of bad in life. Has a very strong love for fashion, but does not necessarily buy into the conventional fashion system, nor has any desire to be a typical fashion consumer. Does not consider herself to be a “hipster”; she makes fun of them in fact, but from an outside perspective, one would most likely categorize her as one.

Attitudes: Consistently pessimistic and consistently searching for the unconventional. Does not aspire to greatness, but does aspire to be successful. She consistently feels jaded andshe is not market consumer would typically be more than willing to.

Target Audience

Acceptance of Innovation: Early Mainstream

Lifestyle Motivations: Somewhat status-oriented, more than she is willing to externally let on. Wants to make a comfortable life for herself, but is predominately principle-oriented (her ill feelings for the corporate world and her love of art)

Interests/Hobbies: Going to flea markets, going to bars on weekends, seeing local bands, going to parties at friends’ apartments, walking around random neighborhoods all over the city, visiting museums, shopping at vintage boutiques, brunching, reading magazines, listening to music, painting, reading

Target Audience

Media: American Vogue occasionally, V Magazine, French Vogue, Italian Vogue, Purple Magazine, Interview Magazine, Another Magazine, Dazed and Confused. Watches movies at small theaters, such as the IFC and Quad Cinemas in the West Village, as well as cheesy reality TV shows such as anything on Bravo or VH1, that she watches ironically. She also watches topical but youthful shows such as the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Generally though, Period Piece user doesn’t watch an overwhelming amount of TV

Very eclectic musically. Listens to hip-hop (Notorious BIG and Jay-Z), Classic Rock (The Rolling Stones and David Bowie), Electronic Music (M.I.A. and Daft Punk), and Indie Music (The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and TV on the Radio)

Loves authors such as J.D. Salinger, Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, and Malcolm Gladwell. Loves used bookstores, such as The Strand, and has a large collection of art reference books

Target AudienceOnline Presence: Predominately uses the internet for fairly common youthful purposes such as social networking (Facebook and Twitter), to download music, read design and music blogs, watch movies (Netflix). Owns a MacBook, and an older IPod and listens to her music on oversized, vintage headphones

SPECIFIC GOALS/NEEDS/ATTITUDES

Usage Goals: Obtain high quality images, have a place to logically store and arrange them, and have access to rare art and design content. Also, wants a technical experience for content that is no longer sufficiently available in a physical realm

Emotional Goals: professional and personal sources of inspiration

Frustrations: Not being able to find vintage magazines in general, and the ones that Period Piece user does find are in poor condition or are extremely expensive and not suitable for her needs. Also, the desire for images that Period Piece user could not afford or use in the way she wanted or needed to

Target Audience

Benefits: By using this service, the user will receive access to not merely an archive, but a collection of images and a mechanism to store those images that Period Piece user to create her own personal aesthetic narrative.

PERSONA EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE

“Jane is currently working as a freelance stylist. She is an avid purchaser of vintage clothing and frequently visits local flea markets. She is commissioned for a job that has the potential to gain national exposure. She has a specific 1974 Vogue editorial in mind, in addition to a similar editorial featured in the June 1993 issue of Purple Magazine. She has a personal collection of vintage magazines, in addition to a collection of images she keeps for her own personal inspiration, that often influ-ences her professional work. She recently began sub-scribing to Period Piece. Not only is she able to quickly access the specific images she was looking for, but also a range of images that were recommended to her in a similar vein. She orders a portfolio of these images and has high resolution prints mailed to her within days. Her shoot is successful and the quality of her work is heightened by her efficient acquisition of these images through Period Piece.”

Target Audience

RESEARCH THAT HELPED DEVELOP TARGET AUDIENCE

“Careers become more diversified as chasing the al mighty dollar no longer pays.”

“Marketing continues to move from just the marketing of ‘products’ to the marketing of ‘lifestyles’.”

“Watch the development of the major publications closely as this may be the augur for the progression of paid information on the information super highway and the answer to a better distribution model. The major publications have given away free content on the internet and many are now attempting to transition their models to a paid subscription format. Will it take?”

“Art replaces money as the ‘it’ thing to do. Not just buying it, but also creating it and participating in the culture and intellectual conversation art provokes. Consumers will seek to find deeper meaning and personal value in their purchases.”

“The young generation of young adults will learn to appreciate getting comfortable in a job and waiting like our parents.”

Target Audience

“When I was in school, my room was dominated by a wall-size bullet board collaged in post cards, photo booth snapshots and pages torn from vintage magazines.”

“Those of us who love media-and especially information in its old-fashioned physical formats- want somewhere nice to stash and archive our art books, vintage magazines, videos, vinyl albums, manga and the rest of the matter we clutter our living spaces with.”

-Sources named in the bibliography

Media StrategyTONALITY and IMAGE

The tone of Period Piece, visually, is neutrality, as to make the imagery/content the focus for users. The layout will be extremely minimal, and the mantra is simplicity. The main purpose of Period Piece is to offer users a space in which users can store and arrange their inspiration, thus create their own visual narrative, which would be more complicated by an over-designed, visually filled space.

MESSAGES: FEATURES, BENEFITS, and VALUESThe features of Period Piece are:

• The offering of a range of vintage art and design periodicals

• A system of organization for users to select and arrange images and have a comprehensive, technological space to store their inspirations

• The ability to order high quality prints or reprinted issues in their entirety, and have them delivered in days

• The ability to manage your entire account online, including subscription, information updates, etc.

• A tiered level of subscription, in which users pay a flat rate for varying levels of access, with the option of gaining more access for a minimal, additional fee at any time

• A service which connects people to physical vintage retailers in their area

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Media Strategy

The benefits of Period Piece are outlined in the information graphic below:


The Value of Period Piece lies in its rare content offering and the convenient and simple way in which it offers said content. Also, the emphasis that Period Piece places on the collection of inspiration and the encouragement of users to create a sacred space with imagery that speaks to them also adds value to the concept. The value of Period Piece also lies in the flexibility, choice, and control users have over the content they are experiencing.

DESIRED BRAND CHARACTER

The brand is the merger of the past and the present. When you think of Period Piece, you think of vintage art and design imagery. This may be manifested through fashion photography, typography, publishing layouts, advertising, etc. There are positive associations with technology, efficiency, inspiration, and imagery. Period Piece reveres the past while recognizing the need for progression and forward-thinking to remain in the present and beyond

Media Strategy



Marketing/Branding Strategies

After developing the target audience and finalizing the website prototypes, it was felt that some marketing/branding strategies needed to be developed in order to be able to better define what exactly Period Piece is, what need it is fulfulling, in what type of environment it was fulfilling that need, and the most efficient methods in which to continue to further the develop the brand. Below is a chart displaying the basic marketing information of Period Piece.

PERIOD

PIECE

ProductPeriod Piece is a web-basedsubscription service that offerscustomers access to vintage publishing content for personalas well as professional inspirationalpurposes

PricePeriod Piece is offered to customers on a tiered, flat-rate, monthly subscription basis.

$30.00 Premium membership

$10.00 Basic membership

$5.00 Limited membership

$2.00 one time use

PromotionInitial promotional activities for Period Piecewill include:

Cross-promotional print campaignwith magzines that are featured onthe site, including Vogue, Harper’sBazaar, etc.

Pop-up shops at local flea marketsto connect the brand to the targetaudience and the original source of the content

Special, brand-sponsored eventsduring important times in various artistic communities including fashionweek, gallery exhibition openings,concerts, etc.

Heavy frequency of web campaign through advertsing (web banners) on blogs, publishing-sponsored sites,and social networking tools that the target audience frequents such as Facebook and TwitterPlace

Period Piece will be distributed through its own website, the organizational archiving systemon it, being the main value proposition of the site

Marketing

Information



In aiding with the development of marketing strategies and the further development of the Period Piece concept in general, sample advertising and a moodboard were created and featured below

They always say historyis doomed to repeat itself.Come find out why that issuch a great thing

Period Piece






Key Business ChallengeThe key business challenge for Period Piece is the recent decline of the Publishing industry. Period Piece seeks to re-spark interest in publishing and thus make it relevant once again. Period Piece plans on making publishing more appealing by focusing attention on its artistic achievements and merits of a bygone era while simultaneously incorporating an online component, the way in which people currently prefer to get content. Some research that supports this business challenge include:

“Magazines, as we know them, are dying. Ink and pa per, the materials that have defined magazines for over 250 years, are dissolving gradually into bits and bytes. This evolution will have profound implications for how publications are conceived, sold, and consumed.” -From the book, “The Last Magazine”

“I still believe in the magazine industry. What we do, our core competency, is trusted editing skills. Whether we can do it or not remains to be seen, but in an age of too much information, isn’t our core competency worth more, not less?” -Anne Moore, chairwoman Time Inc.

“ Working in print, pure and simple, is the early 21st Century equivalent of running a record company specializing in vinyl.” -Andrew Gowers, former editor, Financial Times

“I spend about four-fifths of my time worrying about technology.” -Richard Charkin, president, The Publishers’ Association, UK

“Screens, screens, and screens. We believe that consumers will engage with content primarily through these screens. They will customize all content to the screen they elect to engage with, and they will engage in it when and where they want to...Like it or not, you are now just another group of content providers. And to stay in the game, you have to deliver content that is malleable.” -Renetta McCann, CEO, The Americas Starcom MediaVest Group

“Scarcely a day goes by without some claim that new technologies are fast writing newsprint’s obituary.” -K. Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO, News Corporation

Key Business Challenge

Key Business Challenge

“Magazines don’t need to be equated with print. It’s a content-driven model now. It’s not about distribution.” -John Battelle, founder and former publisher of The Industry Standard and cofounding editor of Wired

“Advertisers and readers will always support glossies, right? No, they won’t. We’re not yet seeing vast revenue declines at top-shelf magazines like we are at newspapers simply because the flush high-end glossies still have a lock on ad dollars from the curiously old-fashioned fashion world...” -Simon Dumenco, “The Media Guy,” weekly commentator on AdAge.com

“At Hachette, we’ve announced that we’ll offer all of our consumer magazines in digital format at the end of the first-quarter 2006. Digital editions offer the opportunity to add rich media to our editorial and our advertising pages, among other advantages.... And in the future, digital technology will enable us to provide advertisers with faster distribution and audience measurement and reporting....And we all know it is much more efficient and profitable for advertising agencies to deploy budgets in electronic media than in magazines.” -Jack Kilger, president and CEO, Hachette Filipacchi U.S., Inc. and chair man, Magazine Publishers of America

Key Business Challenge“The bigger difficulty for us is to truly understand and accept and implement the idea that we are not defined by paper or by a distribution form. We are as magazines defined by content, editors, and a relationship with marketers.” -Phillipe Guelton, EVP-COO, Hachette Filipacchi U.S. Inc

“Jim Spanfeller, president-CEO of Forbes.com, responding to an audience question about when Forbes.com will surpass the print edition in terms of revenue said, ‘probably in about 18 to 20 months.’ Forbes.com is run as a separate company within Forbes Inc.” -Mary Griffin and Ellis Booker, BtoBonline.com

“Burda has spent the past few years zealously pushing his media company into everything digital, even insisting that he will never open a printing plant again....’Printing will not go away, but I do not plan to open a single new printing plant; Burda said. ‘We now concentrate on using social software to build closer relationships with the communities of readers around our magazines.” -Thomas Crampton, International Herald Tribune

Key Business Challenge“Magazines are magazines because that’s what the technology, printing, and distribution demanded. Now technology allows any means of publishing, broadcasting, and conversing; now printing is a cost center; now controlling distribution does not bring the advantages it once did. So we need to stop thinking of media brands as tied to their medium....The definition of a magazine story should not be that it’s printed in a magazine.” -Jeff Jarvis, creator of Entertainment Weekly, former president of Advance. net, and writer of BuzzMachineBlog

“...content will be more important than its container....The franchise is the content itself.” -Tom Curley, president and CEO, The Associated Press

“We would like to believe that internet-versus-print is analogous to TV-versus-radio in the fifties; the new doesn’t necessarily wipe out the old. But I think paper media today are more like sailing ships around 1860-still dominant but enjoying their last hurrah. I think it’s late in the magazine era.” -Kurt Andersen, cofounder of Spy and New York Columnist

Advertising that must be includedVarious forms of advertising and marketing efforts include:• A cross-promotional print campaign with participating

publishing firms based around the concept of fashion’s cyclical nature showing trends in their current state and compare them to when they first appeared in vintage content that can be obtained through Period Piece

• Pop-up shops at local metropolitan flea markets as well as during special events such as fashion week

• A program in which people can donate their vintage content in exchange for free membership

• Heavy use of web advertising such as banners, employment of social networking, short films, etc.

Where and when will communication have the most power?Communication will have the most power on the web, as Period Piece’s emphasis lies on the technological aspects of the service. Period Piece’s advertising will also be more effective on the web because that is where the target audience gets the majority of its information from, as well as the point of purchase for people seriously seeking rare vintage material.

Testing and OptimizationIn order to make Period Piece, and the work that was put into developing it, as effective as possible, a series of monitored test will be set up in which target audience users who have no previous knowledge of Period Piece will be brought in will be brought in and asked to sit down and explore the service. This, in addition to focus groups and critiques from professionals in publishing, art, and design, will be reviewed and incorporated into a second “draft” of Period Piece, with the intention of insuring that it is the most beneficial and appealing service experience that it can be before it is officially launched.

Launch

For the presentation, a time line of operations will be developed, potentially in the range of startup to one year, in which a serious course of action would be mapped out for the introduction of Period Piece to the market. The previous research that was done in terms of competitors, target audience development, and key business problems will really come into play here, along with feedback and critique, as Period Piece will be able to chart a course that is mindful of its predecessors failures as well as triumphs and be able to move forward as an innovative service experience that will know and be the measure of success.

ProcessThe following is work that has been done thus far and illustrates the journey this concept has taken from infancy to concrete development. They include journal pages, prototypes, and work that has been completed and presented, some of which was included in this brief.

Process: Initial Concepts

Process: First concepts for Period Piece

Process: Prototype I

Process: Critique Notes

Process: Prototype II

Process: Prototype IIContinued

Process: PeerCritique

Process: Research Notes

Process: Schedules OutlinesLists

Process: Prototype III

Process: Prototype IIIContinued

Process: Research Plan

Project Opportunities

Period Piece User Interaction

Branding/Marketing

Publishing

User Benefits

-Pop-up shops-Cross-Promotional advertising with current books-Collaborate with other existing initiaves such as Flea Markets and used selling merchandise such as E-Bay -Hold events during fashion week and other related times

-re-spark interest in publishing and thus make it more relevant again-make publishing more appealing by revisiting its golden era while simultaneously incorporating online content that people currently prefer -allow people to get a unique, encompassing access to printed materials that were never available to them

-allow people to develop a personal and all-encompassingsystem of organization for theirinspiration-Allow people to develop and maintain personal as well as professional inspiration-Allow people to order prints ad issues of vintage magazines-Allow users to commit their own level of interest to the site and have a well-designed website to communicate their need through

-Allow people to develop a portfolio of images -the ability to order prints and issues online and overall account management -a feature which allows users to be connected to physical vintage dealers in their area -offer a range of titles in different artistic areas such as fashion, music, photography, art, and advertising

Process: Story Board

Bibliography

BooksInspiration=Ideas: A Creativity Sourcebook for Graphic Designers Petrula Vrontikis2002

Great Magazine Covers Of The WorldPatricia Frantz1982

The Art of Vogue CoversWilliam Packer1980

The Last Magazine David Renard 2006

100 Years of Magazine CoversSteve Taylor

2006

Websiteswww.vintagezine.comwww.coolhunting.comhttp://tmagazine.blogs.ny-times.comwww.fashionista.comhttp://digitalenterprise.orghttp://journalism.nyu.eduhttp://nycblog.citysearch.comwww.nytimes.comwww.businessinsider.comhttp://thejamesperkins.wordpress.comwww.paperboynews.comwww.paperpursuits.comhttp://vintagefashionmagazines.blogspot.comwww.condenaststore.comwww.interviewmagazine.comwww.thearf.orgwww.vinylrevival.comwww.vinmag.comhttp://creatingcustomerexperiences.files.wordpress.com

Bibliographywww.sitepoint.comhttp://digitalenterprise.orgwww.condenastmediakit.comhttp://trendwatching.comwww.citidex.comhttp://blog.netflix.comwww.claritas.comhttp://movies.lovetoknow.com/wiki/marketing_strategywww.businessknowhow.comwww.learnmarketing.netwww.minonline.comwww.adage.comwww.coverpop.comwww.shorelinetimes.comwww.maghound.comwww.womensweardaily.comw

Documents

Period Piece Design Brief