‘Oh is a reimagination of Oh Comely magazine and is still a place to meet new people, hear their stories and hopefully leave you looking at life a little differently. And every issue will still have beautiful photography and illustration at its heart’.
- Female lifestyle magazine through the lens of a ‘strong feminist perspective’. On their instagram page, Oh Comely is described as an “indie mindful living mag with a fresh perspective”
- Minimalist and simplistic style through publications.
Language
- The adjective ‘comely’ means to be pretty/ attractive.
- “admire, follow, and inspire your own reflection”
- Diversity through representations of women. Moving away from stereotypes associated with certain ethnicities (Hall) and providing positive representations that are hardly focused on.
- “Sister” – David Gauntlett, collective identity (sisterhood)
- ‘Speaking Out’ article – Follows the same structure for each story it focuses in on, perhaps this could singify the magazines importance on representation of equality and diversity throughout their issues.
Representation
- A-typical representation of femininity. Often, women are objectified/ sexualised in print products. Through the anchorage (“power and poise” “hard-won” “strong”), the magazine challenges societal representations of females that present women as weak or passive. Radical representations which challenge mainstream media forms
- Front Cover: Mid shot, muted colour palette, connection with nature? Even though she is wearing makeup, this is natural (juxtaposes the typical conventions of a front cover). Even though she is posing for the camera, she is not conforming to the male gaze because the image is not sexualised.
- Masthead – Synthetic personalisation through the font which looks like cursive handwriting, implying that this magazine is handmade rather than a overly glossy, perfect production. Oh Comely is a place where many diverse voices are given a platform to share opinions.
- Time of writing, during the 4th wave of feminism. This is when women were starting to hold the patriarchy accountable for misogyny and over-sexualised representation of femininity in the media.
Audience
- Clearly, through their content, the magazine is trying to connect with a niche, feminist audience. The average demographic was females aged 27.
- Perhaps, trying to project to such a narrow demographic, the magazine was not able to generate enough engagement, leading to it’s end.
- Psychographics –
Industries
- Oh Comely was founded in 2014 following the establishment of ‘Iceberg Press’ (a independent company created by 3 friends who left roles at “big media companies” to pursue a “better way” of creating magazines.
- The last issue was produced in September 2021 before the company went out of business.
- Each issue £5 each or a subscription (3 issues) for £14.
- Iceberg Press produces The Simple Thing and Oh Comely
- In an interview, editor Lisa Sykes said that “we (Iceberg press) didn’t like the fact that print dying was becoming a self fulfilling prophecy”
- Clearly, Oh! magazine was for the continuation of print production, opposing the development of an “online world”