Communications Studio Project 1: Runner’s World
With this project, my partner Elizabeth and I were assigned the magazine Runner’s World. We first divided up the work by determining which of us would cover the content on the magazine and the web.
Print Analysis
I was given the print magazine to analyze. The first thing I noticed when I looked at the magazine was the emphasis on bright colors and popping graphics. There were a large number of sections of stories, each divided up by the distinct visual elements to show that you were going from story to story. I first attempted to scan some pages so that I could determine the grid for the pages. However, in the process of scanning, the pages were tilted slightly, which made it difficult to find the grid lines. I then googled the magazine and found some PDFs of versions of the magazine online, as well as the one that I had in a physical copy. I then screen-shotted these pages and started creating grids of the pages.
Grid Structures
At first I had a hard time determining the grids on the pages. It seemed as though the pages did not have a set grid structure, and many of the elements broke the grid structure that seemed to be placed. Also the margins were generally quite inconsistent which made it hard to find the grids.
At first I assumed that the margins were larger and the creators put the content outside of the determined margins, but after talking to Andrew, I realized it was more likely that they brought in colored elements that seemed like margins, rather than the other way around.
After analyzing the grid a little bit more, I realized that this type of content that transcends across all the magazines has a 10 column grid structure, with smaller gutters, and a margin based on the elements at the tops and bottoms of the pages.
Understanding Runner’s World Brand + Content
After Elizabeth and I looked over the magazine roughly through a visual lens, we wanted to further determine which type of content was inside of the magazines so we could determine what the audience of the magazine is.
We determined that magazine was mostly a vehicle for big athletic companies to promote their merchandise, as most of the articles were product focused. We determined the audience to be normal people that are interested in the athletic lifestyle. The three types of articles that are inside the magazine are ones that are completely centered around the products, products with human influence, and human based stories.
The product stores focus heavily on the gear that is being pushed at the viewer, with large images of these products taking up the space on the pages, with small captions with the name, price, and small description.
The product and human stories are a mix of human based stories, giving the readers a look at the lives of certain people and their relationship with running, as well as product placement, shown as products the person loves. These stories mix the elements of product based stories and the elements of human-based stories creating a unique type of content.
Understanding the Visuals
We determined that the stories had distinct styles based on what type of article they were, and each story has a unique visual story to indicate to the readers which story they are in. In order to break down the visual understanding of this piece more, we divided the things we are going to talk about into three categories: use of space, graphic elements, and typography.
Use of Space
When comparing human based articles and product based articles it is interesting to look at the manner in which the content is organized on the page. For human stories, the elements form clusters which caters to the fact that the reader has a set story they are expected to follow through the page.
On the other hand, with product pages, the content is placed in bursts, similar to how advertisements pop up on screens. The different manners of layout are indicative of the motion that the magazine wants the reader to go through when looking through the pages.
The emphasis on product pages is far more on images of the products rather than the supporting text. On human stories, text and images are given equal importance.
Due to the burst structure of the product pages, the grid structure is modular, while the grid structure for the human stories are column based. This difference in grid structure caters to the difference in the type of content.
Graphic Elements
To create unique, recognizable visual identities for each story, the magazine depends on graphic elements. The elements are unique across pages but are similar in style. They are all bright pops of color that convey this idea of “fun,” modern, lifestyle that the magazine is advertising to their viewers. They depend on blocks of colors, strong black bars that extend across pages as well as serve as underlines for titles, arrows/shapes that indicate where the viewer should start on a page.
In order to understand the manner in which graphic elements work on the page for the magazine, I recreated some of the spreads I had been working on without the added graphic elements, to show how exactly the page changes.
Each story in print has a unique visual identity which helps the reader follow through the stories and stay grounded to the pages. Each page uses bold colors and text to bring dynamic visual interest to the pages.
Navigation Through the Pages
In a magazine, we noticed that the magazine has a table of contents but it has a lack of distinct visual identity. The table of contents itself doesn’t give any indication of the content of the stories themselves, so the general journey of the viewer is unexpected.
Our First Draft
With out first draft of the presentation, we had most of our content figured out, but we were unable to flush out the exact reason behind everything which made tying the presentation together difficult.
We then needed to figure out how to tie everything together, with a concrete why behind their decisions.
Replanning the Presentation
Based on the feedback we received after our first pass at the presentation, we realized we had all the necessary content, we just needed to reframe it under a new cohesive lens that helped break down why, a little more clearly.
Understanding the “Why”
Once we had all of our elements flushed out in terms of the visuals, we wanted to flush out exactly why the magazine uses the techniques that it does. We decided to reframe our presentation to be an audience based presentation, focusing on who Runner’s World was catering to. We first determined that it was for people who were interested in the athletic lifestyle, but weren’t professionals. This was why the magazine has to spend so much time trying to sell to people and convincing them about the benefits of the athletic lifestyle. Their audience is specifically middle-aged people that are interested in an athletic lifestyle, and tend to have higher incomes. So our three new claims were:
With our main thesis being: Runner’s World works to connect to its established audience through inspiring them with stories of other runners, excite them by creating a young, fun visual identity, and influence them to become part of this lifestyle by buying specific products that would enable them to become part of the lifestyle.
Inspire
For print, I specifically focused on the covers of the magazine and the image of the runner they painted there.
On the covers of the magazine themselves, they work to create this example of the ideal runner, but also find a balance by using “normal” people rather than , as an ideal that people can strive to achieve.”
The covers also include more and more “realistic” women in covers to achieve a sense of community, rather than creating a sense of professional athleticism.
In addition to the ideal runner image that they paint, they also make sure to include people that you wouldn’t expect to be in the fitness world, as another means of saying “if they can do it, then you can do it too.”
Within this section, I also added in content from the articles, specifically the manner in which the articles have text that caters to their main goal of motivation. However, in the final version of the presentation, we decided that the imagery was more effective to focus on.
Excite
With this part of the presentation we focused on the visual identity that Runner’s World creates, and how it aligns with the idea of having the readers believe that all of their content is fun and exciting.
In this section, I talk about the vague navigation, and how the identity of the stories serves as part of their navigation rather than the table of contents itself. The manner in which they use unique visual identities per story, helps keep the reader grounded on the page.
In this part of the presentation I also analyzed the graphic elements, which is something I analyzed above. I also emphasized my point about typography, and how type becomes a tool to add more visual interest to the page, rather than serve as functional typography for readability.
Influence
The final topic we talked about within the presentation is the manner in which the magazine influences its readers to buy some products that would help them achieve this athletic lifestyle. I specifically talked about the two types of stories that exist in the magazine: human stories and product stories. The product stories employ bursts in order to make the user focus on the product images, with the text acting as support to the images, the point that the users are meant to focus on. I also talked about how the manner in which theses articles break the grid structure also causes this feeling of visual interest and lots of options.
In Conclusion
Through this process of analyzing the magazine, we realized that Runner’s World is a publication that is catering to an audience of young-minded middle aged people interested in the fitness lifestyle. The manner in which they connect to their readers is through inspiring them through imagery of other runners, exciting them through dynamic visual rhythm, and overall influencing them to take action beyond the bounds of the magazine.
