This magazine is representative of modern femenist critical thinking which celebrates individuality and empowerment.
In contrast to Men’s Health magazine, Oh Comely is an independent magazine published by Iceberg Press, a small London publisher which publishes only one other title. This suggests that the information or messages in the magazine are true and relevant rather than a way to ‘buy’ the reader for profit.
- You can find oh in some Sainsbury’s
Oh is about new ways of looking inside ourselves and out at the world. A mindfulness magazine with a fresh perspective
Alternative Institutional Structure –
Oh magazine is published by the independent publisher, Iceberg Press, a London based publisher that only owns one other title.
A niche audience is a subgroup of a company’s main targeted audience. This specific audience is a selective group of people who have specific wants, needs and interests. Small but mighty, niche audiences hold great value for brands and their success. Niche audiences are so valuable because they are often more engaged, active and responsive users. As well, due to their specific likes/dislikes this makes it very easy for marketers to target content to them.
As Iceberg Press is an independant media company, niche audiences can be targetted specifically.
Unlike other corporations or conglomerates, Iceberg is relatively small allowing the overall structure of the institution to be different. This will allow for the audience to be more directly targetted, but also allows the company to know and improve on judgements from their audience.
Stuart Hall – Theory Of Preferred Reading/ Reception Theory/ Encode & Decode – There are three hypothetical positions from which messages and meanings may be decoded: either with a preferred, negotiated or oppositional reading.
Halls theory can be applied to Oh magazine as it allows a different way of interpreting the text, either agreeing or disagreeing with the ideologies it presents.
bell hooks drew attention to how feminism privileges white women’s struggles, while advocating for a more holistic way of understanding oppression.
Where the readers were as important as the advertisers, where the paper quality and design were valued and where the words and pictures weren’t always trying to sell stuff, didn’t portray perfection, didn’t tell people what to do and made them feel better, not worse.
Iceberg Press Magazine
Iceberg makes two magazines, The Simple Things and Oh Comely.
The first issue of Oh Comely was published in 2010 and co-edited by Des Tan and Liz Bennett, with Rosanna Durham and Dani Lurie as art and music editors. Collectively the four worked as Adeline Media. Oh Comely publishes craft, DIY, creative non-fiction, photography and illustration, as well as reader submissions.
Oh Comely is also a magazine about people. What makes it different to the rest? It makes people feel better about themselves. It inspires people to be creative, talk to their neighbours and explore new things, rather than gossip, buy stuff or lose weight.
