BattleGrip Issue 1 Download Link
And here it is, the very first issue of the new PDF magazine. You can download the magazine now — download issue one at Dropbox — and I’d love to hear any feedback you guys may have for me.
This first issue isn’t perfect, but I see it as a great starting point and I’m hoping the next issue comes together even better.
good job! one nitpick is that i’m a bit partial to the serifs featuring font on the site here so having the same font (and color) on the titles as in the text makes the reading a bit more the ‘quick overflow’ type of reading.
Like the inclusion of the links! Photos are superb again and overall feel is very nice and cool!
@Ralph = Thanks! The links still need work — I notice InDesign and Acrobat didn’t quite translate everything correctly — but I’ll work on that for the next issue.
I stuck with the sans serif since I am assuming most people will read this onscreen. But maybe I’m wrong.
hm, i realised reading with serifs still works better for me on screen or on paper, there’s no real difference.
And yes, the Indesign Acrobat fraggle is always bananas!
Maybe add the links later on in Acrobat after designing everything in Indesign? There’s always ways to get arround those things the programs do screw up.
But like said, the effort paid out and i really like it overall!
Looked great with some gorgeous pictures. I read it on my Kindle Fire and it was really easy to read. I’m looking forward to issue 2.
I love the magazine format. It really sets you apart from what everyone else is doing.
@T-Rav – Thanks! Good to hear it works okay on the Kindle. I’m starting work on the second issue and hope it’s an improvement over this one.
@Izdawiz – I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. With luck the experiment will go well and I’ll keep this up. Please let others know about the free PDF.
I would say stick to the website. The PDF is slow loading and like with regular magazines the content is old and outdated. I suppose if you are shooting for some kind of app format for people who use tablets then there might be some merrits for this but I think you would be better in designing your site so its more mobile friendly then trying to do a separate publication. This didn’t work for ToyFare magazine and I don’t think its going to work here either. Sorry just my 2 cents.
This is good for people like me who need to catch up on things and cannot read a website every day though i do try.
@Ramjet – Thanks for the feedback. The largest problem I encounter with the site — often! — is that my web skills are minimal. Each time something goes wrong I have to find help. And with the site costing more and more to operate each month it gets annoying when hackers dig in and embed malware into the site.
We’ll see how it goes. I think the biggest mistake I made with this issue is not having a way to track downloads; I have no idea if one or one thousand people have read the issue.
Great stuff!
And this coming from a long time lurker….you’ve drawn me out into the comment section day light!
Hi Philip, great job on the Battlegrip magazine. The page for me that ‘popped’ the most (in terms of writing style/layout) was the 1st page of the Luke Skywalker review. While reviewing other people’s reviews made for some odd reading, the introduction to the review reminded me of the oldschool Toyfare article openers, which is great.
Given the magazine format, are you going to stick to Battlegrip-website related content (pictorial reviews), or branch out into article-type pieces (‘Best underappreciated playsets, 1980-1996’, etc.)?
@Blayne – I’m still not 100% sure what direction I’ll go with things. How much of what I’ve done with the site in the past do you think I should bring into the magazine format?
@Philip Reed,
Thanks for the reply Philip. That’s a big question. Some incidental blogposts could be combined into a misc news area – similar to Poe’s Odds/Ends posts, but they’d lose the immediacy of their news value if you waited to include them in a monthly format – the same curse of physical print medium, I suppose.
Keeping the magazine (ezine?) a strictly reviews and article / editorial content feels like a good move. That way, you’d still have incidentals to post to Battlegrip to drive traffic – with the important stuff archived in .pdf – safe from future hack-attack.
@glenbothecarpathian – Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the issue . . . and even happier that you took time to comment on things. I hope you’ll keep watching.
I like it – it’s something you can dump on your iPod touch or phone and check out when you are without service or Wi-Fi. Still, there’s something special about coming to Battlegrip.com and seeing if there’s something new.