Print Media: GQ v. Details

Throughout the years, print media has become an essential part of gathering information on the world around us. We still trust The New York Times to provide us with in depth news coverage while traveling on the subway. Vogue gives tells us whether or not the pinstripe jumpsuit we bought a month ago can be worn with hats usually only brought out for the horse races. And we still go off on adventure reading the works of Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, and even our secret guilty pleasure; Stephanie Meyer. But as new technologies come in, those in the cult of the old (read: hipsters) fear that the printing press will be dead in a matter of years thanks to Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and others in the tech-savvy elite. Many print media sources have adapted to the technological age by giving into the media junkie and creating websites that allow people to view most of the content found in the magazine for free. But will sites come up to par with the quality that can be found in the pages you can buy at the local 7-11?To try and find these answers we look to GQ(or Gentleman’s Quarterly) and  Details.

            But first a little history. Details is an American based magazine that started in 1982, making the publication only 32 years old (very close to the age of its target audience). Condè Nast Publications bought the publication from Alan Patricof  (owner of one of the largest private equity firms in the world) for 2 million in 1988 and later gave it to a sister company, Failchild Publications in 2000 where it undertook a large style change. GQ has a much more extensive history. The magazine started as Apparel Arts in 1931, and was simply in print for the sake of allowing industry insiders to give their consumers guidance on apparel of the time. Though in limited print, its popularity gave way to the creation of Esquire in 1933. In 1957 the magazine

turned into a print for men and in 1958 the name Gentleman’s Quarterly was debuted. In 1979 Condè Nast Publications bought GQ and made into a magazine about the fashion, food, and lifestyle of men giving it a turn around that attracted the large following it has today.

             These are the figures for the October issues of the two men’s lifestyle magazines:

Magazine	Year Est.	Circulation (per month)	Editor Name	Pages	Ads	Stories (not including columns)	columns
GQ	1931 (GQ name est. in 1957)	939,067	Alex Jenkins	220	139 pages	14	5
Details	1987	440,841	Dan Peres	156 (The last 2 pages are ad inserts)	78 pages	6	25

           

Looking at the table, one might think that those numbers are off. Surely there can’t be pages upon pages of advertisement to outnumber the reason why people buy these magazines. But it’s true and in a way it’s worse in the men’s fashion magazine. Essentially every item being put on display in the magazine is being advertised in both pieces. Every suit is given its name and every car it’s day. I had a hard time counting some ads because they had a similar layout to the magazine’s news columns. Both magazines sport similar ads, I immediately recognized multiples when flipping through the pages. They did have slight variation wherein it was another picture of the shoot or one would have a one page ad while the other had it on two. GQ and Details also spread their ads out in a similar fashion; heavy with ads in the front and then slowly decreasing until there is little to no ads in the back. I also found it interesting that the one page ads in both publications mainly stayed to the right of the page, like it was forcing the reader to look at it (seeing as that’s the first page you really see as you flip). The difference comes in the actual articles in the two prints. To put it bluntly, GQ has a more heterosexual appeal than Details. GQ ends with an article about Rick Ross (rapper) where as Details ends with a talk about Gay divorce. GQ also colors its pages with more scantily clad women than the other publication. They do however both talk about gadgetry, alcohol, and the proper way to dress in a similar fashion, as well as having interesting dynamic shots of the people they focus on in their main articles.

As stated earlier, print is said to be a dying breed. So of course publications that still wants to make money need to stay afloat by heading to the digital age. These two magazines are no different, and have created websites that try to keep a devoted fan-base from being lost in the times of instant gratification.

Looking at the GQ websites we can see some interesting things. On the left is the official website for the magazine, which in comparison to the printed version, has considerably less in the area of advertising. You can also view the same information that was in the publication (save for the main article of Dicaprio) for the low price of free. The blog on Tumblr does similar things to the website, actually linking straight to the main page. However, they do post small bits and pieces they feel are relevant to their audience from other sites. It’s like having an updated magazine every day.

            Again we see a similar format in the layout of the two sites for Details. You can see the same exact articles and headlines as in the actual printed publication in the official website, as well as other tidbits written exclusively by online writers. They feature several sections similar to the layout of The New York Times website, and everyday new information can be found (this can also be said of GQ). The difference between the two publications’ websites is in their tumblr. Details’ blog doesn’t do much except for take the same articles found in their site and link them. No new information is gained through their tumblr, but in their actual site.

            As a side note, both publications have a facebook page that will give you exclusive access to giveaways and content that (allegedly) can’t be found anywhere else. A good incentive to get people to click the like button. Details has 2,179 likes while GQ has 166,289.

            So to answer the question, I’m not sure what will happen to print media as time goes on. Looking at the circulation numbers, I’d say that both of these magazines have had great success in keeping their readers going to the store and buying off the shelf. But this could still be due to their target age still remembering the age of print. I would say the two publications try and keep readers in the range of 21 to about 50 which mean that many will still prefer the magazine to the digital copy. As time goes on, those in the age of instant gratification will make their ipad the home of these magazines. The printing press will only stay alive if those who desire it really fight for it.