The Editor reveals the reasons for, and the decisions taken, behind the re-design and other changes from this, the June issue.
Nigel Thorley writes:
"Beside your own comments and suggestions we thought it was the ideal opportunity to review the whole production process in view of ever rising costs, and in particular those relating to postage. Regular rises in postage have steadily put pressure on the Club's finances in terms of the magazine, the very latest from the Royal Mail taking effect from January this year. Paper stock has also regularly been increasing in price, much of which is down to an upsurge in demand and also the closing down of certain mills around the world (quite rightly), to help the environment. Then there is the matter of packaging, something many of you have shown particular interest and concern about. All this has led to even more extensive changes to the magazine for the future.
New Format and pagination
Nigel continues to say:
"One of the first changes you can see in the NEW magazine is the format, slightly smaller than the conventional A4 size and one that follows what some other magazines have moved to. This does not affect the content of the magazine as the size difference in the main comes off the margins of the pages. It does however save weight and cost."
He also explains the number of pages:
"This is the number of pages in your Jaguar Enthusiast. Steadily over the years we have increased the number of pages to meet the needs of editorial and advertising, for the last few years this has been 140, made up of 136 pages of editorial plus the 4 pages making up the stiff cover. We have decided to alter the number of pages by 8, from this month meaning 128 editorial plus the 4 pages of the cover. This reduction will NOT affect the editorial content for reasons explained later..."
Classified Advertisements
Nigel explains the decision behind the changes to the classifieds:
"The above might trigger the question of how can it be that we reduce the total number of pages, yet don't lose out on editorial content? The classified advertisement section of the magazine has always been extensive compared to the majority of other car clubs and has consistently proved to be a very popular area of interest in the magazine. However, it has often raised concerns at how long it takes to get an advert published, or, by the time the magazine comes out, the item you wanted to buy, has been sold! That's because we have a particularly long lead time between preparation, printing and distribution to your address, something we can't do a lot about."
Much more in the magazine
So there have been some changes to the look, feel design and in some cases content of the Jaguar Enthusiast, but when you have read the full article from Nigel in June 2019's issue I am sure you will agree that these changes have been made with the member and the Club at the forefront of the decision.
To read the full article you will find it in the June 2019 issue on pages 7 - 11.