Dear All,
Am blogging after ages and must say the motivation to do a blog post was actually India's Premier Art and Craft magazine- Our Idea Book.
The Magazine invoked a hell lot of emotions in me first as a Crafter and second as a voracious reader who has a reading range on 'anything under the sun' ..yes, you heard me right! I love reading any topic from religion, spirituality, fiction, non fiction, self help and even young adult and kids books including magazines ranging from fashion, politics to crafts and kids again!!
There is a disclaimer to this post- anything that may appear negative or a rude remark needs to be considered a passionate call for the magazine publishing team to understand it and if possible take in the suggestion if they want. Am not here to pull down the efforts they have put in. Believe me being in the media industry I know what goes behind to bring in front a good looking product and in no way will I pull it down just for the sake of it.
Lets start with the detailed review.
Thumps Up:
1. As a crafter I love that someone came up with a craft magazine in the first place from my own country. The efforts that must have gone into it is incredible.
2. The cover was interestingly designed to pique a crafter's interest.
3. The pricing is awesome making it a moderate expense for a beginner or a veteran to subscribe to it.
4. The magazine selflessly promotes a lot of Indian Craft Sellers (understanding that the publishers are also craft sellers and seeing the cat fights that happen daily on social forums this was the most positive feeling that I got as a mere crafter)
5. The craft store listings across India towards the end of the magazine was a superb effort. Now one can even check out stores in other cities and town when on a casual trip.
6. Adding a digital pattern page at the end is the highlighter moment.
Thumbs Down:
1. Too many topics with no cohesiveness in theme.
2. Fonts vary throughout the magazine which is a big no no for me as a reader as I have to adjust my reading range of eyes to accommodate the font sizes and dimensions. (Headings and important quotes etc have been excluded while considering this point).
3. Tutorials have a long list of instructions with NO photographs to support the process. The process in art and craft are intricate and talking about it makes no sense unless one sees the effect of the process. Also the supply list can have a consolidated photograph of the supplies so its easier for crafters to connect instead of the listing being so long.
4.Grammatical and Sentence Formation printing errors are a big put off for a true reader.
5. Some articles had old creations of crafters which cannot be considered as fresh and current content.
6. The book binding photograph in the cover piqued my interest as a crafter but I felt cheated as the inside instruction was just a basic process. :(
7. The interviews of crafters had overlapping questions and overlapping information in the answers which could have been edited to be more interesting.
8. Some Indian and rather very Mumbaite language for headings are a big no no when you have International Crafters also participating and showcasing their works.
9. A simple border to Photographs would look neater and not clash with the original craft that needs to be the highlight.
10. The Digital Pattern Paper was clashing with the craft store listings. In case one decides to use it they would have to let go of the listings information. :(
Having listed my "Thumbs Up" and " Thumbs Down", would like to say that the downs are mere technicalities that can be modified if considered by the team and is not to phase out the magazine all together. The Ups of the magazines are definitely heavier than the Downs for me and I would definitely recommend a subscription to the magazine.
Love
Saumya
Am blogging after ages and must say the motivation to do a blog post was actually India's Premier Art and Craft magazine- Our Idea Book.
The Magazine invoked a hell lot of emotions in me first as a Crafter and second as a voracious reader who has a reading range on 'anything under the sun' ..yes, you heard me right! I love reading any topic from religion, spirituality, fiction, non fiction, self help and even young adult and kids books including magazines ranging from fashion, politics to crafts and kids again!!
There is a disclaimer to this post- anything that may appear negative or a rude remark needs to be considered a passionate call for the magazine publishing team to understand it and if possible take in the suggestion if they want. Am not here to pull down the efforts they have put in. Believe me being in the media industry I know what goes behind to bring in front a good looking product and in no way will I pull it down just for the sake of it.
Lets start with the detailed review.
Thumps Up:
1. As a crafter I love that someone came up with a craft magazine in the first place from my own country. The efforts that must have gone into it is incredible.
2. The cover was interestingly designed to pique a crafter's interest.
3. The pricing is awesome making it a moderate expense for a beginner or a veteran to subscribe to it.
4. The magazine selflessly promotes a lot of Indian Craft Sellers (understanding that the publishers are also craft sellers and seeing the cat fights that happen daily on social forums this was the most positive feeling that I got as a mere crafter)
5. The craft store listings across India towards the end of the magazine was a superb effort. Now one can even check out stores in other cities and town when on a casual trip.
6. Adding a digital pattern page at the end is the highlighter moment.
Thumbs Down:
1. Too many topics with no cohesiveness in theme.
2. Fonts vary throughout the magazine which is a big no no for me as a reader as I have to adjust my reading range of eyes to accommodate the font sizes and dimensions. (Headings and important quotes etc have been excluded while considering this point).
3. Tutorials have a long list of instructions with NO photographs to support the process. The process in art and craft are intricate and talking about it makes no sense unless one sees the effect of the process. Also the supply list can have a consolidated photograph of the supplies so its easier for crafters to connect instead of the listing being so long.
 |
| A few CU of the cards being made would definitely help any person wanting to learn the process involved in it. |
 |
| Too many instructions and written material make a reader of a magazine loose interest. Specially if it has a process involved that needs to be seen and learnt. |
 |
| Distressing is a tough process and cannot be understood with only instructions and one sample photograph which not even points out which part of the tag is done with what steps. |
4.Grammatical and Sentence Formation printing errors are a big put off for a true reader.
5. Some articles had old creations of crafters which cannot be considered as fresh and current content.
6. The book binding photograph in the cover piqued my interest as a crafter but I felt cheated as the inside instruction was just a basic process. :(
7. The interviews of crafters had overlapping questions and overlapping information in the answers which could have been edited to be more interesting.
8. Some Indian and rather very Mumbaite language for headings are a big no no when you have International Crafters also participating and showcasing their works.
9. A simple border to Photographs would look neater and not clash with the original craft that needs to be the highlight.
10. The Digital Pattern Paper was clashing with the craft store listings. In case one decides to use it they would have to let go of the listings information. :(
Having listed my "Thumbs Up" and " Thumbs Down", would like to say that the downs are mere technicalities that can be modified if considered by the team and is not to phase out the magazine all together. The Ups of the magazines are definitely heavier than the Downs for me and I would definitely recommend a subscription to the magazine.
Love
Saumya
