response: magazines for guys

After doing some research and discussing magazines for men in class, I have come to the conclusion that guys are really tough to design for. Looking at the wide array of magazines on the market, there are a number of different styles used to try to appeal to the male gender. For example, FHM uses bright colors on their cover, while Port uses very subdued colors. Esquire and GQ prefer snarky commentary and lots of breasts on their covers, while Edge and Nylon Guys uses a wider variety of subjects. To be completely honest, the possibilities that those who are designing for Jack Knife have are limitless. The trick for Jack Knife is going to be removing celebrities from the cover and still bringing in readers. Girls can look at pretty rooms and nice food and be okay; guys seem to be more attracted to people (women, really).

There are also differences in designs inside the magazines. Sports Illustrated uses a little more grunge in their designs, while GQ is slick. The thing that carries over from ALL publications, however, is the fact that designers are using new and innovative ways to display information. FHM had an awesome spread on whiskey that had a whole lot of information but was really visually appealing. Guys aren't going to sit down and read a bunch of long form writing without some kind of visual elements to pull them in. If the designers of Jack Knife can master this, then they should be on the right track to creating a successful magazine.