The latest issue of orange magazine is out! And you might notice something different about Issue Four: We printed the entire magazine—save for the orange “g” on the cover—in black and white. (Oh, and we created an iPad app, too.)
Why the heck did we do that? Many of our editors asked the same question when publisher Jim Meyers came to us with the idea. (Including me.) But after several brainstorming sessions for our custom magazine about marketing trends, we agreed to help pull it off.
And we did.
The black and white issue was put together with transparency top of mind. It forced our team of reporters, editors and designers to drill down to the basic themes of each story without hiding behind a shroud of flashy color—themes like opposites, simplicity, plainness and absence. At times it was a painful exercise, but after all, what worthwhile task isn’t?
Many of the stories in Issue Four get back to marketing basics: Reclaiming the inspiration from a blank sheet of paper (Whatever Happened to Not Knowing?), the rise of transparency in corporate-produced content (How Transparent Should You Be?), and the newfound appeal of generic consumer products (The New Generic).
So while you’re dutifully reading your latest issue of orange, ask yourself, when was the last time you got back to basics? Hopefully these pages inspire you.
We’d love to know what you think: E-mail me, orange’s senior editor, at cgaloozis@imaginepub.com.
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