Fashion Magazine Research

i-D Magazine

i-D is a British magazine that was set up by Terry Jones, who decided to design a magazine not to promote fashion products or consumerism, but celebrate "Street Style" fashion and youth culture.

Abbey-Lee Kershaw

The first issue of i-D was released in September 1980, it was released and not published because originally it was a DIY magazine which was pieced and stapled together by hand.

The first issue sold 50 copies for 50 p/copy.

Jones felt that tha lack of sales was due to the fact that the magazine consisted primarily of "Street Style" and had a very home-made feel to it. The writing was typed up on a type-writer and the models were members of the British public.

"The idea was to break down the pigeon-holing of identity and fashion; to go beyond the facade of fashion, so you could play it as a game. So you could inject more fun into the codes of fashion."- Terry Jones (Editor-in-Chief of i-D)

Although the magazine has since evolved from a hand stapled fanzine, into a mature glossy magazine, the original mentality of "street style" and "youth culture" remains prominent part of the magazine, separating it from all of its successors (such as Dazed&Confused or LOVE magazine) and predecessors (Vogue).

Terry Jones was born in 1945 in Northampton. He studied graphics in Bristol, but dropped out in a protest when his favourite tutor resigned.

Jones set up the magazine with his wife Tricia. For many years, Terry established himself as "one of the most experimental creative director of his generation." His career began designing the covers of Vanity Fair and Vogue (both British and French) in the 70s. These covers were a harsh contrast to the more innovative designs used in i-D magazine.

"The first few years of i-D were controlled chaos."-Terry Jones

i-D Magazine cover- Madonna 1984

There was a creative aspect to designing for more established magazines like Vogue, however i-D proved as a creative risk to Terry Jones. He wanted to venture out, trading in the years of demurely editing photographs for experimental graphic layouts. He often massacred images and text with his graphic design layouts, but this was what the magazine industry needed. It was a fresh take on 80s fashion. Post-modern.

The women featured in i-D appear much more flirtatious than in Dazed & Confused. Women often posing with their shoulders facing the camera, touching their lips or breasts. Makeup is bold, though has some feminine quality to it.

i-D Magazine shows womean and men of different ages, rather than just one age. As the magazine is aimed at a fairly young, trendy audience, it shows older members of society as being trendy as well. 

The men featured on the front cover are not shown to be sexy or flirty. Men on the front cover are often shown completely straight faced. i-D has more negative stereotypes than Dazed. Gender stereotypes are a lot more apparent in i-D. They conform to the idea that women are sexual objects, and that men are emotionless. Though their representation of older generations is perhaps a step forward, as it breaks the stereotype that old people are un-cool, unattractive and perhaps uninteresting.

Plan-B on front cover

The content in i-D magazine is similar to Dazed & Confused. It's about fashion and lifestyle with a lot of music influence. Several of the artists featured on Dazed have also been in i-D. The photography and photographers are also very important to the magazine. It features people from every creative field such as fashion, music, art, clubs and film. i-D usually features many more people who have already achieved fame, rather than with Dazed who focus on more upcoming artists. 

Similarly to Dazed, the front cover is never too over crowded. In fact i-D is probably less crowded on the front cover, perhaps only featuring only one or two words. The font changes more frequently, depending on the theme of the issue. The colour of the title also changes more frequently.

The wink and smile on each front cover- a graphic representation of the magazine's logo- have become integral to the i-D identity. Over 300 of the world's fashion elite have given i-D a cheeky wink, from the likes of Madonna, Tom Ford, Chloe Sevigny, Björk, Tilda Swinton, Drew Barrymore, Lil' Kim, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss.

Reference:

Stead, C. (2014) [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/cloestead/dazed-confused-id-magazine-analysis

(Accessed: 13 February 2016)

Frances, E. (2011) The history of i-D Magazine [Online] Available at: http://ellefrances.blogspot.hu/2011/12/history-of-i-d-magazine.html

(Accessed: 13 February 2016)
Ongley, H. (2014) i-D Magazine to launch online in Australia [Online] Available at: http://www.thefashionspot.com/buzz-news/latest-news/385043-i-d-magazine-to-launch-online-in-australia/
(Accessed: 14 February 2016)
(2015) 18 Best i-D Magazine Covers Ever [Online] Available at: http://blog.myflashtrash.com/18-best-i-d-magazine-covers-ever/
(Accessed: 14 February 2016)

Adriano, B. (2012) i-D Magazine Pre-Fall 2012 Cover by Adriano B. [Online] Available at: http://fuckingyoung.es/i-d-magazine-pre-fall-2012-cover/
(Accessed: 14 February 2016)
Veldman, D. (2014) i-D Magazine Cover [Online] Available at: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/562738915910126652/
(Accessed: 14 February 2016)
Makkas, C. (2012) i-D celebrates the Year of the Dragon with Twelve covers [Online] Available at: http://www.thefashionspot.com/buzz-news/forum-buzz/171709-i-d-celebrates-the-year-of-the-dragon-with-twelve-covers-forum-buzz/
(Accessed: 14 February 2016)