All-new PGI

[stongle]

Seems to me that, if its not in BIG letters and words of more than two syllables people are having trouble with the new style.

I think the comparison to Student Work is highly unfair when you compare PGI to the current UK Competition.............

And I'm nobodies battyboy either.

 

[Robbo]

Originally posted by FAMINE
Oh my god, how crap is the new layout?
Yes i dislike the cover, but as they say you cant judge a book ny it.
But the inside is just bloody awful! You guys have been over working the work experience guy. I know PGI staff are getting all defensive abouty this, thats understandable. They have prob been planning this for months. But guys, admit you are wrong. Listen to your public. This is just wrong!

Crappy type face, layout etc just makes it hard to read and keep interested in any article. That with the fact that theres some odd background colours in there with black ink, makes it difficult to keep interested in any article long enough!

Change it back guys and admit you blew a load of time and money on a stupid idea

We didn't 'blow' anything Famine and we sure ain't stupid and if you wanna stay in the backwater of paintball, fine, no probs, I am sure there are other publications you can read to satisfy your need for conservatism but be quick mate, coz they won't be around for long.
We don't have to admit anything, we believe we are right and will continue to evolve as a magazine in response to this ever changing sport of ours.
Modernism is survivalism in another guise, we ain't gettin left behind and if your opinion differs, fine, I'm just surprised to see such an ignorant and offensive post from somebody who just can't appreciate innovation.

 

[mikeyR]

Originally posted by Robbo
MikeyR, I'm afraid great design can be equally described as 'puting different coloured boxes on a page' as you well, or rather, should know.
I don't think for one second you are unique, I am sure others might well agree with your dislike of the new re-design but approvalists, even tacit ones are less likely to voice their opinions on these boards, it is the nature of people to more readily be predisposed to bitching than applauding so we ain't gonna lose no sleep over yours and a few other people's 'opinions'.

As paintball evolves to embrace the youth element amongst us, and significant driving influences from across the pond begin to filter thru to things like magazine design, dress, styles etc, we at PGI have to go with that trend or look dated, it's as simple as that.
We either grow with the sport or we die.
Now, I never liked the idea of semis being introduced into paintball all those years ago, I hated them but twelve years on, the adoption of semis has transformed our sport into a technical and tactical hotbed that would not have been possible with pumps...basically...we evolved for the better.

A lot of hard work and effort went into produce this magazine, we at PGI, even an old fart like me, agreed we needed to change the image and become more edgy.
We believe we have achieved that and will continue to respond to market and design forces that pervade our market place as it does in every other single industry.
And as for describing the design of my article as 'snide', what exactly does snide mean in this context ?
And just for the record, and I am not saying this to back up PGI's defence, I really like the design, it's fackin awesome.

Telling us you believe it to be 'cheap and lazy' is not just an observation, it's a frikkin insult because lots of talented people worked very hard on this.
But as you say, everybody's entitled to an opinion, even one such as yours.
Have a nice day !

Ok 'Snide' probably wasnt a good choice of word. Maybe its just the background I dont like, the fuzzy photocopy look or the typeface at the top, not 100% sure, but I dont like the overall effect. Its your page, you like it, fair enough.

I dont doubt that people worked hard on the re-design but I think the overall effect doesnt measure up to the past quality of these peoples work. They have maybe done themselves a disservice because on past work they talent is obvious. And your right, people are more likely to moan than prasie but Mr. Duffy has just stated that he is getting supportive e-mails so its not all bad and plenty of people will support the redesign. I voiced my opinion here because the thread was here.

I also appreciate that things need to evolve and that Paintball is getting more youthful but do we always have to cater for one particular age range? The layout before was all encompassing, and didnt alienate or exclude anyone, IMHO.

Maybe this is the problem, that the older generation who have been with you from day one have reached that point where they resist change not embrace it. Am I too old now (33)? Is that the problem? Has your readership demographic shifted that much that we, the readers, need to 'grow with the sport or we die' to quote your goodself? Only time will tell.

Peace

 

[rancid]

Originally posted by stongl
And I'm nobodies battyboy either.

I have a vacancy at the moment.




Ah ha! Mikey's 33. What the fk man, if you'd have said that at the start we'd have ignored everything you said. Don't tell me, I bet Famine's pushing 30 as well. Nah, he can't be, he'd have learn some manners by then.

 

[duffistuta]

The people working on this mag from the design and editorial departments vary in age from 22-50; we tend to always fight and disagree about stuff and are more than happy to tell each other when we feel what a colleague has done is a piece of ****...this redesign is possibly the first thing that the entire team has ever been united on.

We sent out test pages to various people as well during the course of the redesign and the response was equally favourable.

The mags I like to read and am inspired by the design of - Dirt, Ride, Document etc. - and older stuff like Raygun and The Face of bygone days are/were edgy, challenging reads that reflected the nature of their subject matter. This is what we wanted for PGI; I believe this is what we've got. A visual tone to match our verbal tone.

I don't expect everyone to like it, but lazy and inept? **** right off.

 

[Buddha 3]

Well, there is something to be said about the lazy bit....after all, you all spend more time on these forums, than actually making a magazine

Seriously though, not having seen the thing first hand, I´ll save my comments for the moment, but something that has always freaked me out is a change of logo.... It´s not something that is easily done, and I´m sure that a lot of thought has gone into it, but still the hairs on the back of my neck jump to attention when it happens. It´s easy to loose a large portion of the casual readers that way, because they won´t recognise the mag anymore. Plus what the hell am I supposed to do with my trusty PGI barrel condom that now has an outdated logo on it?

I guess only time will tell if it was a good or a bad move.

And like many others have stated, I read a magazine for it´s contents. As long as the articles are good, and the colours don´t give me headaches, I´m happy. ****, if it was all about looks, I would have gone for facefull, but I´d rather be kicked in the nads.

 

[Tom Tom]

**** Right off (I cant seem to find a word to fit )

I have not seen the internal mag yet so hopefuly i will get my copy soon.

And the cover as well as someone pointed out seeing it in person may also change my view on it rather than a small internet pic.

I have a few Questions I would like to ask the PGI collective.

1) When you decided on re-design was it at the same time for both mag and web site

2) (having not seen mag yet) Are the re-design linked across the 2 medium. Does the new look web site reflect what we can expect in the mag. (smaller type face on web)

3) What is your actual demographic, is it age, sex, location, or just paintballer enthusiasts.?

4) Was the decision a joint office thing, "lets have a revamp" or was it big boss man, we are revamping. and then everyone else had to pull into line. (I don;t know what its like to work at PGI towers)

5) What happens if sales fall, or stay the same but don't rise due to revamp would you try another look?


You guys work hard and some of the comments (myself included) may have been a little harsh and are not meant to reflect the effort that is put in but more a suprise after what was seen before. People may not be the first to praise but straight into critise. Silence is sometimes praise enough because at least they are not complaining.

Good luck with the reworking, I will continue to subscribe because I love Paintball. And to this point I have no reason to think the content (however readable) will be nothing less than interesting.

 

[duffistuta]

1) When you decided on re-design was it at the same time for both mag and web site

Nope, both needed doing for a while and it was a question of finding the time on the internet dept's schedule and also the design depts schedule.

2) (having not seen mag yet) Are the re-design linked across the 2 medium. Does the new look web site reflect what we can expect in the mag. (smaller type face on web)

Nope.

3) What is your actual demographic, is it age, sex, location, or just paintballer enthusiasts.?

The majority of our market is young, US players.

4) Was the decision a joint office thing, "lets have a revamp" or was it big boss man, we are revamping. and then everyone else had to pull into line. (I don;t know what its like to work at PGI towers)

Joint - we all felt the mag was looking a little tired and dated and wanted to freshen things up.

5) What happens if sales fall, or stay the same but don't rise due to revamp would you try another look?

If they actually fell consistently over a period of time and there were no other factiors at play, we'd re-evaluate, if they stayed the same, no, cos we are happy with the new look.

 

[evil sharks matt]

ok ive just got the mag and i have to say it looks alot better in the flesh than it does on here.
Ive had a swift flick through the mag and imo its pretty cool an there seems to be more of it now?
I do prefer the old cover but the content is still top notch

well done

 

[Robbo]

Originally posted by FAMINE
Oh my god, how crap is the new layout?
Yes i dislike the cover, but as they say you cant judge a book ny it.
But the inside is just bloody awful! You guys have been over working the work experience guy. I know PGI staff are getting all defensive abouty this, thats understandable. They have prob been planning this for months. But guys, admit you are wrong. Listen to your public. This is just wrong!

Crappy type face, layout etc just makes it hard to read and keep interested in any article. That with the fact that theres some odd background colours in there with black ink, makes it difficult to keep interested in any article long enough!

Change it back guys and admit you blew a load of time and money on a stupid idea

Hey Famine, just a little heads up for the guys who read your post and might erroneously attach some credence to it, eveybody just take a little look at Famine's sig pic.
Now presumably he put that up there because he thinks it looks good...we at PGI rest our case