National
Geographic Traveller (NGT) is another publication surrounded with yellow frame
and has earned same respect for its journalistic values. Its Indian edition is
launched by ACK media (very well known for Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle &
Karadi Tales) this month where it has to compete with other existing
international & Indian publications like Conde Nast Traveller, Lonely
Planet Magazine, Outlook Traveller, Travel Plus, Geo etc to create its own
mindshare.
Publishers
of NGT India had already claimed in media that Indian edition of NGT will be
carrying around 80% of local generated content. I was so thrilled to pick up
the copy of the launch issue, but my entire excitement got vanished the moment I
started browsing inside the issue. It disappoints a reader at many fronts when
he is an serious admirer of these Yellow framed magazines and he expects same
level of editorial & production standards here in this as well. When
expectations are very high from your product, then even a tiniest flaw or
carelessness becomes unbearable… and here in this magazine, the magnitude of
mistakes and negligence is very high.
Content
Magazine
is quite thoughtfully structured and is divided into logical sections & subsections
like InFocus, Journeys, Voices, Navigate, Get Going, Short Breaks etc. Content
density is good as this issue has lots of stories to read for the month. As
happens in such travel magazines, the articles and photographs are contributed
by various writers-photographers from various parts of the globe. And that
diversity, on one hand brings variety of flavors in the magazine, on the other
hand it brings inconsistencies also and that can be very dangerous if not
handled very carefully and intelligently.
The
same I felt here in NGT where entire issue doesn’t look one single issue of one
magazine but it reads as a good collection of articles taken from various
sources just to accommodate stories in each subsection to make the issue
complete. Inconsistency in structuring an article and writing shows quite
immature presentation that I was not expecting at least from brand like NGT. Main
cover story of launch issue on Himalayas is also structured so badly that you lose
your interest of reading a few lines only and you just leave story immediately
and turn the page. It is very common mistake what many writers/editors do when
they lose their focus from where they ideate or conceptualize a story and then
later they take story in absolutely different direction.
Copy
editing is again not at its best and subbing is also substandard. Many of the
stories are having widows & orphans which could be easily avoided. Language
or writing & article structuring is not in sync with each other. There are
many other mistakes which show lousy proofing work in the magazine. Yes, the mistakes
might be tiny but even those are not expected from a brand like NGT.
Copy
for the main story on the cover is very straight – it neither provokes nor
invites a reader. It should have carried a leader that could have support main
story and could have given a direction to the reader to think. You cannot leave
it to the readers that they will understand themselves what this story is
carrying inside the magazine in more than 40 pages!! They could have easily
mentioned here the key attractions of many articles like Assam, Himachal
Pradesh and Dhauladhar mountains which all together have made this one big cover
story.
Other
stories on the cover are also put just thoughtlessly with average copy… and
bottom line is kept there with no sense at all.
Design
NatGeo
is respected for its visual presentation… especially for the photographs it
carries. But beautiful photographs need same standard of design support so that
those pictures can look at their best. NGT Indian edition disappoints at both.
A very few pictures are there those remind you that you are reading NatGeo
product but the moment you start browsing pages and you go through entire
issue, you don’t feel to look at many pictures again. Is this the destiny of
Indian edition of such a brilliant magazine title? It is really appreciable
that publisher of NGT India has decided to create maximum portion of content
local here but at this standard? Selection and editing of photographs is so
poor that hardly a few photographs stop a reader and hook him to look at them
again and again otherwise mostly are going to disappoint those who will buy
this magazine for keeping its Photography quality in mind.
Design
and layout is also flawed across the magazine. Yes, it has maintained
consistency at most of the pages but lost at many places also. Design elements
like frames, drop caps, slugs, photo captions, leading are used without using
strict guidelines. It looks like that various articles of the magazine are
designed in complete isolation. Even in the same section, two articles have no
uniformity. And I can’t see a great design out of this that creativity could be
an excuse for doing so. Rather, a couple of pages are designed so flawed that
raise doubt on designers skills also. Layouts of some stories are just horrible
– completely flawed.
Cover
of the inaugural issue has its yellow frame as its identity with a different
(Indian) tag line – Nobody knows this world better. Then there is one golden
inked peel out sticker sort of element on the mast head which reads - Hello
India (another example of average copy)! Cover photograph is excellent but I
don’t think that it was the best photograph to put on the cover. A great
photograph cannot be always the best for the cover of the magazine, they need
to understand this. How can be a designer so careless while designing main
cover of such an esteemed magazine and that too for the launch issue, I can’t
understand - No discipline – No consistency – No balance!! Story elements are
not aligned properly, improper leading, elements are just placed randomly
without considering any logic, sense, sizes or weight.
Infographs
used along with the stories are few but good while photo-captions are placed
inconsistently.
Printing
As
a common reader, my expectations from this magazine were very high- in every
aspect. Nat Geo is highly regarded for its photographs, and printing quality
plays very critical role to present them at their best. But final output also
depends upon the prepress work which in NGT India it lacks a lot. Many
photographs are not edited/touched up well and that is why those photographs
are not standing out well on the page. Some are spoiled because some pages are
not printed in accurate color so they either are having other cast on them or
looking dull in absence of right mix of colors. Pictures with cast don’t match
with the reputation of this brand and you as a reader don’t expect such quality
from this magazine. Registration is just perfect. Printing density is fine but
looks poor only on those pages where ink is low.
Product
Because
of slightly wider from a regular size and of course ‘yellow frame’ attracts you
on the newsstands. 180 pages (cover to cover) of Inaugural issue are carrying
good enough content to read in a month at the cover price of Rs.120. Paper
quality used for the cover is just perfect, so is the center fold inside the
magazine. Inside pages of the magazines are good that helps to produce clear printing.
Travelling
vertical in Indian publishing market is getting very competitive now. Since
there are already well-established brands exist and other international popular
brands are also entered, it is going to be very tough to reach at top of genre
position in India. To reach there and to stay there at top position NGT has to
control over the content, structure, quality and its presentation. Then only it
can sustain its global reputation here also in India. Otherwise if it continues
to do as it is done in inaugural issue, it will also lose its charm as many
other reputed brands had entered in India and their Indian editions failed to
hold their readers who picked up initial issues based upon their international
reputation.
