‘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’, from the magazine’s website.
An alternative magazine, niche target audience
A part of a development in lifestyle and environmental movements
The editor is Lisa Sykes, who used to work at Hearst UK.
She says “We didn’t like the fact that print dying was becoming a self fulfilling prophecy”.
It is a feminist magazine with a niche audience. The women who feature in it are not sexualised, and so it is an unconventional print product.
The first issue was created in 2010, with the final one published in September 2021. The company (Iceberg Press) went bankrupt due to COVID-19.
Makes 6 copies a year – every 2 months
The average age of its audience is 27, and 98% of its readers are female.
‘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’, from the magazine’s website.
An alternative magazine, niche target audience
A part of a development in lifestyle and environmental movements movements
Average age of 27 and 98% female readers ABC1 demographic
Owned by Iceberg Press (Lisa Sykes), a strictly print independent small publisher based in London ran by a small number of people.
The publisher also only publishes one other title The Simple Things
Created by the publisher to ‘bridge the gap between the m,
100k followers on social media
25k readers for each issue
Sold by independent retailers, WHSmith and international outlets
‘published without the financial support of a large corporation or institution in which the makers control publication and distribution…’independent’
Focus on women as speaking out and female empowerment. No focus on appearance, the model has short hair and is wearing clothes that cover her and is posing in a neutral way where there is a focus on her face with natural makeup. No focus on anything to do with appearance such as makeup, clothes, diet etc instead ‘stories, film, music’. Although conventional features of femininity such as she is wearing makeup and jewellery. ‘Comely’ is an archaic word meaning pretty or attractive, not in a sexual way.
Words shown in the front cover ‘power’, ‘hard won’, ‘strong’, radical as women in media are shown conventionally as quiet, weak and passive.
Positive representation of women of different backgrounds (refugees) shown in a positive light, images of them smiling etc. careers such as women in STEM (a woman shown as a CEO of a tech company) as that is challenging stereotypes that women are not very tech literate but this woman is in fact CEO of a tech company.
More masculine representation of women, challenging society’s representation of women.
Positive representation and representation of women who have different body sizes e.g. plus size, woman wearing a headscarf that is rarely seen in conventional media. Positive representation of African/Middle Eastern women campaigning about FGM that is not to do with poverty, terrorism, war.
Men’s Health focuses on what men can become, Oh Comely focuses on what women are.
1- Oh Comely is a magazine that makes people smile, full of quiet moments and stories
2 – it makes people feel better about themselves the way they are
3- launched in 2010
4 – publishes 6 issues a year
5- laust issue was September 2021 due to the pandemic
6 – owned by ice berg press
7 – CEO if iceberg press is Patrick Tembo
-In Oh Comely, there is a radical and apposed representation of women, following ideas of Stuart Hall’s theory on the 3 categories of media representation, it empowers them and not sexualising them like most mass media products such as Men’s Health.
-Steve Neal- repertoire of elements, similarity and differences.
Introduction. Launched in 2010, “Oh Comely” was published by the “proudly independent” Iceberg Press. According to their website, it was a “mindful magazine with a fresh perspective”. Each issue was available to purchase for £5 in a few newsagents, independent retailers, cafes and museums.
– magazine focuses on the non sexualisation of women and representation of women being strong and successful, instead of the reactionary representation of women being overly sexualised by the clothing they wear and other stereotypical hobbies or interests the media think women will be interested in and information they need to know according to powerful producers.
– instead of society’s invisionment of women and according to the medias history of making women dependant on men, and presuming they all wear pink and are housewives, Oh Comely wants to represent women in a completely different way and change society’s beliefs.
theorists-
– This image of ‘undressed women’ in a magazine isn’t rare as many magazines in the media industry projected women in such circumstances where they are partially naked and venerable to the viewer looking ‘sexy’ or ‘seductive’.
– This radical image of a women who is ‘obese’ compared to other women displayed in other magazines in such a manner displays what this magazine wants to create, a healthy loving space for every women who may not be accepted in society’s view of ‘normal’ or a ‘attractive’ women to be appreciated and celebrated.
– The display of her curves and brightly coloured hair goes against all of society’s invisionment of a ‘women’. Having a skinny waste and blonde/brown hair. If the magazine published a ‘normalised’ white girl, it wouldn’t be question, but due to the nature of this magazine, the key notion is to display women in real life, not photoshopped and in a unrealistic environment like the top of the Eiffel tower or walking on water.
theorists-
– On this page it displays a middle eastern or Hispanic women who is the CEO of a tech company. The stigma around women of colour in the media compared to white women is shown by the choice of actors, presenters and models. As the subject of inclusivity increases in modern media and the aim of introducing all ethnic minorities into the spotlight, it has become less of an issue of all white casts. But this magazine is furthermore highlighting how important it is to involve everybody regardless of their differences.
Owner:Iceberg Press, an independent publisher, bought Oh Comely (which pivoted from the women’s lifestyle sector to the growing mindfulness sector and renamed Oh)
‘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.’
Lisa Sykes is the editor, used to work at Hearst UK.
Sykes recalls. “We didn’t like the fact that print dying was becoming a self fulfilling prophecy”
First issue 2010
Final issue was published September 2021
Feminist magazine
Niche target market
Made 6 copies a year, one every 2 months
Average reader age of 27
Institution – who owns it
Examples of specific pages
Language, how it’s laid up, representation
Audiences – who reads it, who it’s for
Lazarsfeld
Ideas of the two-step flow of communication, supplied by Lazarsfeld, says that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them, to a wider population.
In Oh Comely, there is a radical and apposed representation of women, following ideas of Stuart Hall’s theory on the 3 categories of media representation, it empowers them and not sexualising them like most mass media products such as Men’s Health. But in modern times there is an active conversation on feminism and fighting against the patriarchy, so the two-step model can still be applied here. Modern mass media ideas on feminism is being represented and promoted widely throughout the world and being supported by opinion leaders such as Ariana Grande who support ideas on feminism, which in turn allows this product to be relevant, granted, to a niche market with an average reader age of 27, but it still circles back to the same concept, although these ideas can be considered radical, overall, nothing is really radical as the ideas always flow from someone in power, someone who’s opinion is more relevant to someone else’s, and in evaluation, the magazine only exists to generate a profit. A flow of communication used only to profit off the wider population.
More on this:
Use of empowering and active words such as ‘power’, ‘wisdom’, ‘strong’ is used in a feminist manner to empower their readers.
There is a conventional representation of the dominant signifier on the front cover in the fact that she is being posed for the camera and wearing makeup — but on the other hand, it could be considered unconventional as she is wearing light, more natural makeup, nothing that changes her looks much and has a more radical style; short hair and clothes that do not show any skin or show off her body, tackling usual focus on sexualisation on most magazines.
On pages 14-15 it demonstrates a woman who is wearing an ethnic turban which is radical in terms of repressing and going against mainstream, common representations within magazines. This magazine tries to go against control and leaning into repressing the common ideologies in which represent women negatively, this magazine does not represent women in a sexualised way and strays away from Laura Mulvey’s theory on the ‘male gaze’ in which this magazine does not appeal to. It works against the mainstream representations of women who are usually used as tools for promotion and greater sales with the over-sexualisation of women. Further proven on page on all other pages where no sexualisation is featured.
Also the word ‘comely’, an old fashioned word means pretty, but is used as a more modest and subtle way to compliment a woman, in a way that doesn’t sexualise them but rather positively represents them.
This magazine follows an active form of Lasswell’s model of communication and supply’s its readers with a magazine every 2 months, so just 6 a year. Also supporting a self confidence and self-esteem almost escapism feature of one’s personal and and social needs following of the Uses and Gratifications theory of Katz, Hass and Gerevitch.
Oh Comely is part of a development in lifestyle and environmental movements of the early twenty first century which rebrand consumerism as an ethical movement.
Oh! was launched in 2010.
Last magazine was September 2021.
Company went bankrupt due to COVID-19.
Comely means attractive and pretty meaning women are not sexualised, making the magazine unconventional.
The magazine is very simplistic, artistic and has an aesthetic appearance to it.
Men’s Health is what you can become where as Oh! is what you are.
The magazine is very feminine and aimed towards women to start to get to know themselves rather than wanting to be someone else.
-Owned by a small company called “IceBerg Press” which is only a small amount of staff running a full magazine. -The editor of “Oh! Comely” worked at Hearst as deputy editor of the “coast” magazine. -Sykes recalls. “We didn’t like the fact that print dying was becoming a self fulfilling prophecy” -The world of magazines has never been more vibrant and innovative, but you wouldn’t know it from the average newsstand today. From Iceberg Press website -Feminist Magazine
-The front covers words “Power”, “Strong” and “Hard-Won” gives a powerful representation of woman, feminist critical thinking. -The girl is wearing covering clothing and short hear, showing that she is not being sexualised and in fact is being displayed as her, not a body, as a human. -Lack of huge amount of makeup, making it more like she is being displayed for her and her humanity, rather than her “beauty”
Devoted to the artists, bands and outsiders that it loves, Oh Comely is peaceful and disarming, a magazine that wants you to take your time with it. 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. In 2014, The Independent identified Oh Comely, alongside Delayed Gratification and Apartment, as part of a change in magazine publishing led by younger editors launching print titles for a generation of readers raised on digital media. Iceberg Press announced their purchase of Oh Comely from Adeline Media in 2016.
Lisa Sykes- “We didn’t like the fact that print dying was becoming a self fulfilling prophecy and we felt strongly there were plenty of people who want to read magazines if you made them worth the money.
Oh Comely owned by iceberg press, Lisa being the editor.
The magazine is represented as highly unconventional with the lack of sexualisation and presentation of women of being dominant and speaking out.
Radical representation of women in the media as on the front cover she is not over-sexualised. She is not wearing revealing/tight fitted clothing. Her make-up is light and very natural looking helping to create a humanising picture of a woman. her posture is slumped back and wide as she takes up space in the environment showing her confidence. Her hair is short which is counter typical for the stereotype of femininity. Links to Butler’s theory of gender as performance. She is not the stereotypical representation of women but rather shows some masculine features.
Encountering more diversity. Inclusion of women from different cultures and not shown in the stereotypical way. (poverty/terrorism) She is a campaigner fighting against FGM showing her as a strong independent woman. Capitalisation of the word “Sister” showing emphasis of how she wishes to unite women. Focusing on real world problems instead of common conversational topics such as fashion, cooking, cleaning, and weight gain/loss. Focusing of empowering women rather than gossiping.
Promoting body positivity and acceptance of all bodies. Counter typical to the common passive aggressive remarks which are often made towards women and their body changes. Creating emphasis around this as an inclusive magazine.
Industries:
Owned by Iceberg Press- Iceberg press set up Oh Comely in order to bridge the gap between the more mainstream magazines and the vibrant and innovative content of independent magazines. They are strictly print.
Independent media organisation
Only a few members of staff
The EDITOR, Lisa Skyes, spent further stints at Hearst Magazines UK, working as a deputy editor of coast magazine
Print Language: Her eyeline is directly at the audience, the picture is poised however it still has the quality of being candid. close up shot to draw audience to look at her face. Language used is unconventional for women and words normally associated with masculinity, e.g strong, mischief, revolution. Creating a sense of empowerment – linking with feminism. The Headline is “Oh comely” which is an old fashioned word meaning “attractive” this links into the classiness/elegance of women without sexualising them.
Representation:
Audience:
Social Media Reach: 100,000
Readers Per Issue: 25,000
Average Age of reader: 27
Sold through independents, WHSmith and international outlets
‘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”
