Industrial context: history of magazines

 Magazines although not taking the form that they do today, were launched in the early 17th century in forms of pamphlet, booklet etc. The earliest examples of a magazine named 'Erbauliche Monthas Unterredungen" was launched in Germany in 1663, as a literary and philosophy magazine. The move towards more lifestyle magazines would be The Gentlemans magazine published in London in 1731. 

Magazines have come a long way not only in terms of content and target audience, but also in their appearance and house style. Modern magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Vogue, are prime examples of the modern appearance of magazines, a great contrast to the early magazines of the 17th century. 

Cosmopolitan as an example, bright colours, bold lines and house style typography, displaying the key conventions of the modern magazine. 

Contrasted with the early lifestyle magazine "Gentleman's magazine' from 1771, the appearances are very different. The colours are muted, and instead of having posed photography of models, the covers centre around illustrations of events or places. 

18th/ 19th century: 

Mass circulation of magazines became evident at the start of the 19th century, and the prices of said magazines were heavily affected by social factors such as politics and social class. In the transition between the 18th and 19th century there is an evident change in the content focus of magazines, to enlightenment and new political ideas, family based content and gradually the progression to housewife tips and advice. The development of these different content categories has developed into what we now know as categories of magazines, for example lifestyle magazines. 

Lifestyle magazines: 

As mentioned before, the late 19th century saw the introduction of the early woman and lifestyle magazine, which especially as time moved on, gradually showed the changes to women's roles and the attitudes and aspirations of women in society. Magazines such as The Godey's Lady's Book and Harpers Bazzar were intended for an exclusively female audience, focusing primarily on consumerism, beauty, fashion and other lifestyle ideas. Although the change in magazines does show the change in womens roles and the stereotypes surrounding them in society, but it also shows that at the time that magazines target their audience purely for aesthetic purposes. 

It’s evident that lifestyle magazines developed into being the most popular form of magazine media, especially into the 21st century. 

Advertising in magazines: 

With the new found materialistic target audience of women, magazines became a very important source of advertising for companies and businesses, the earliest examples of advertising being in the 18th century. The advancements in technology meant that magazines could be readily and more efficiently printed, due to inventions such as the rotary press. The rotary press meant that magazines were higher in circulation and due to the less time consuming method of production - were cheaper in nature. The higher circulation also made them accessible for all social classes, unlike the previously targeted middle and upper classes. 

Developments of the camera and image capturing technology meant that magazines could now feature more clear, and eye catching images, later on which would be developed into colour. The technological development means that magazines became a primary source of revenue for advertising companies in a difficult climate.