NEW LOOK – Model Engineer & Workshop

[mike TParticipant @miket56243]

That front cover photo of two “cho-chos” would not inspire me to buy a copy. There is far more to model engineering than endless ‘steam’ engine articles.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Some are suggesting the purpose of the cover is to attract new and casual readers in a shop. I would expect therefore that someone (Sohara) has analysed sales wrt covers’ subject.
Given that a growing hobby area is gantry style CNC mills and laser engravers I would expect the recent MEW 347 cover to have had an effect. Pity that it was not vetted to find the product was obsolete, but if only they had they could have gone in hard with “Next issue we show you how to make this now that it is unavailable commercially” and this would be a reason for buying the next one.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

‘Back to the Future’

 

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, well I don’t buy magazines for the front cover. The first MEW I bought was No. 13, and it was the content that interested me, but I do like the No. 13, mainly because most people seem to avoid it. In the street where I was born, there wasn’t a house No. 13, but there was a 12A, with No. 12 being on the left of it, and No. 14 on the other side of the street, and there was only 16 houses in the street, the rest of the opposite side, was back gates to the houses of the next street. When the last MEW arrives, I will have a copy of every one, the first twelve I bought off Ebay, and back issues at one or two exhibitions, No. 2 was the hardest one to get at a reasonable price, as apparently they didn’t print as many as they did the first issue, but it didn’t really cost me anything, because I had to buy about a dozen or so at the same time, which I resold, which covered the the price, even with the postage of the batch to me.

Regards Nick.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

“Designer: Druck Media Pvt”. Never seen that company-type before. Where is it based? Does it have much experience in designing covers for technical publications?

I suppose it does not really matter in some ways: a magazine cover is only ink put onto paper (in India in this case) but you’d expect its design to be sympathetic to its subject.

This one looks as if the designers (in Germany) do not really understand the magazine’s field and readership but like to show off their art skills.

[Nigel Graham 2]

On Nigel Graham 2 Said:

“Designer: Druck Media Pvt”. Never seen that company-type before. Where is it based? Does it have much experience in designing covers for technical publications?

[…]

https://druckmedia.in/

MichaelG.

.

Ref.

https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/what-is-a-private-limited-company-india

 

 

[quote]

Graphic Design Services
Our graphic designers work with Customer to blend catchy pictures and designs to enhance your brand value. We serve as a one-stop shop for all your graphic design requirements & Campaign development; our team uses Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Photoshop and many more licensed software to deliver professional and attractive outcomes.

[jimmy bParticipant @jimmyb]

I’m looking forward to the changes with both magazines “merged”.

 

Change is not a bad thing

 

Jimb

[Weary]

On Weary Said: What are the two gears in the top-left corner there for??  Rod Jenkins didn’t ‘mill those in the lathe’!  

 

 

Oh yes he did 😀

Rod

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Well no surprise there. 2 engines on the magazine cover 1st issue.

[Roderick Jenkins]

On Roderick Jenkins Said:

On Weary Said: What are the two gears in the top-left corner there for??  Rod Jenkins didn’t ‘mill those in the lathe’!

 

 

Oh yes he did 😀

Rod

– Has the ‘Title-box-wording’ for that article been cropped..?

Making skew-gears manually on ‘traditional’ machines is interesting & useful, but the cover text reads like it is a general discussion of ‘traditional lathe milling practice’, i.e. the most interesting aspect of the article within is obscured..

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Has anyone asked their kids/grandkids if the cover might attract their interest?

It is after all necessary to try and attract a younger audience to the hobby as well.

,

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Here’s an Aunt Sally, feel free to criticise.  Just suggestions.

As we have joint editors, I hope no-one minds if for brevity I refer to Neil and Diane collectively as  ‘Neil’.  I guess their new look cover is trying to balance ME and MEW topics together, which is  tricky.  Rather than trying to jamb both together, might try alternating the images: trains followed next issue by 3D printers, trams followed by a sexy milling machine, etc.

Following Neil’s lead, I’ve decluttered the page by:

• Removing Names.  I suggest names don’t attract newcomers unless the individual is a celebrity.  Though I have huge respect for authors, none of them would tempt me to buy a magazine just because they had an article in it.  Hope it isn’t too insensitive to suggest Harold Hall shouldn’t be on the front cover of a ‘new look’ magazine because announcing a death coupled with ‘Est 1898’ is sending youngsters the wrong message – read our obituaries!   Authors and ME big hitters can and should be fully celebrated inside the magazine.
• Clipping the English, hoping for quickly read telegraphese.  Makes it easier to proof read too!
• On the green header, advertising Rod’s article, I added the words “Old School!” to signal that the magazine is modern, not stuck in the past.  ‘Old School’ has a positive connotation, and I think the mag will do well by exploiting older methods.
• I’ve emphasised modernity by adding the word Forum and enlarging the website’s URL in the blue banner.
• I de-emphasised the Issue and Volume number because who cares?  Needs to be present, but not blinged up!
• ‘Slay with a lathe’ is aimed directly at the kids.  Slay means something like ‘doing an excellent job’.  However, dangerous when old-farts like me attempt youth-speak, so ask a teenager if it makes sense.  Might be safer to avoid. Wizard prang! See you at the hop, old boy, top hole, what, what!
• The Myford picture was chosen to emphasise ‘workshop’.   Although Myfords are handsome in my opinion, a grey tool may not appropriate.   Youth might prefer a brightly painted mini-lathe or a shiny Sherline.   Also, this particular example shows how difficult it is to find pictures that catch the eye.  This Myford pic is cluttered and the colours camouflage the text.   As a front cover candidate my choice is inferior to Neil’s Twins!   Struggling to find a suitable picture, I thought 3D-CAD images might be a good compromise – a steam model presented in CAD nicely links old and new.
• I removed Traction Engine from the Casting Polyurethane blurb because traction engines are historic. I’m sure casting can be applied to any wheels, and a traction engine in the article itself is fine.  Just not on the cover if newcomers are wanted.   Might be wrong, maybe Neil has a list of buzz-words that cause sales to leap every time they’re used.
• As a style experiment, I used a sans-serif font.  Although the feel is arguably more modern I don’t like it as much as Neil’s choices.  What do others think
• Specially for Jason there’s one deliberate mistake.  Any more are cock-ups!

 

As can be seen from my example, if anyone hates a cover, make your own!

🙂

Dave

 

[martin haysomParticipant @martinhaysom48469]

sorry Dave won’t be buying it at that price

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Well done Dave.

I definitely prefer it, not sure about the mistake for Neil to spot but not may people will like your price!

Also, strakes not stakes (might have been on the donor image?)

My only suggestion would be to have issue number at top left hand corner

Ian P

 

[Ches Green UKParticipant @chesgreenuk]

Dave,

I like your front page – it seems brighter, less cluttered, less fonts(?)….and the Bar Code thingy is much neater. Overall, a step in the right direction. Marks 7/10 😉

A story…my nephew and his 10 yr old son visited me recently. I showed the boy my Stuart Beam engine…he couldn’t believe such a thing existed…he was fascinated. I slowly spun the 7″ flywheel with my finger (…it wasn’t powered) and all the other parts of the engine kicked in to action. For the rest of the visit he sat next to the engine moving the flywheel himself, asking good questions and just being absolutely taken by such a machine.

It was almost as if kids his age never get exposed to such machinery…which of course is now the case. This may be one of the reasons there is no ‘new generation’ of readers for the magazines….kids these days have no knowledge or experience of the hobby.

However, from Jason’s recent video of the USA Show, things would appear perhaps to be different in other countries. Is this mainly a UK thing then ie the lack of exposure of the hobby to youngsters?

I was brought up on a farm so saw and heard a lot of machinery, and my Dad answered all my tech questions no matter how many I threw at him.

But these days kids live in a different world of iPhones, PlayStations etc. Everything now seems to reach their brains through an LED screen.

Ches

 

[Bazyle]

On Bazyle Said:

On Nick Wheeler Said:

Where else would the content be, but inside?

Like the adverts “1 in 8 men get prostate cancer in their lifetime” I’m really worried about getting it after I die.

Am I the only person who has stacks of old Mags and some in cardboard sleaves on the shelf that presents the spine at the open edge? Do all the newsagents I don’t visit carefully put their magazines in the racks with the spine covered by the next publication so that the issue number (and month???) is not covered?

PUT THE ISSUE NUMBER AT THE TOP LEFT and now that it will be monthly put the 3 letter month abbreviation and 2 year digits up there just below it. Will make it so easy to find a particular one.

A certain amateur radio magazine in the uk that has the issue number printed across the spine on Easy to check if in  coloured bands. The bands follow the resistor colour code so issue 4762 would be on orange, violet, blue and red.
Easy to check if in order or if one is missing.

Robert.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Dave’s version is less fussy, but the graphics look like they were done on a Spectrum!

[Ches Green UKParticipant @chesgreenuk]

Actually, as covers go, this one doesn’t look too bad…..

However, I’d remove the ‘Dad dancing’ article for sure (at least from the front cover)….nothing is guaranteed to scare off young buyers more than Dad Dancing!

Ches

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Another vote for putting issue Number, date etc, very top left as per current MEW
Makes it much easier to find when archived in a bookcase.

Bill

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Sorry Dave,

I prefer the fonts used by Neil for the main heading, but I do like the “For Hobby Engineers, Modellers and Makers” line. The fonts and colours you used really screwed my eyes over :).  I too would prefer the issue number/date to be on left hand side of the page. All the spines of the magazines on my magazine shelf are at the front and it would be much easier to flip through to find the required mag.

It may just be the font used but the “Old School” line just does not look right.  On one hand I can see the view that it is the part of the mag that viewers will see on the shelf in the vendors establishment, but personally I think it would be better with the “Inside” contents list.  I would hope your spelling mistake would not get onto the cover 🙂

Colin

[Julie AnnParticipant @julieann]

Why hobby engineers; are professional engineers excluded?

Julie

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

That is a very good point Julie

Just ‘Engineers’ would be better

 

Ian P

[SillyOldDuffer]

On SillyOldDuffer Said:

•  What do others think

Stick to the day job, Dave. Actually a quieter general layout, but lacking the beginnings of clue about typography.

 

[Charles Lamont]

On Charles Lamont Said:

On SillyOldDuffer Said:

•  What do others think

Stick to the day job, Dave. Actually a quieter general layout, but lacking the beginnings of clue about typography.

 

Looking forward to seeing your expertise in action Charles!

Seriously though, all I did was select a sans-serif font from the top of the list to see how the style compared with Neil’s version.   Not intended to be a master class!  And I did say I didn’t care for it much!

Thinks!  Might be fun to do a cover in Fraktur…

Dave

[Julie Ann]

On Julie Ann Said:

Why hobby engineers; are professional engineers excluded?

Julie

Julie, that’s a great point!

“”Hobby”, to me conjures up a picture of someone struggling with a fretsaw cutting a piece of wood.

Please change or delete the word “Hobby” from the front page.

Regards

Derek

[Author]

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