< The June 2011 “Talking” Glamour cover featuring Olivia Wilde
I suppose it had to happen, so it’s no suprise really that Glamour Magazine has launched the first “talking magazine cover” via Ipad. No word yet if all future issues will feature a talking cover girl. The creative , and commercial possibilities are vast and one can only imagine that other glossies will follow suit. While it will be interesting to see how this will evolve, there’s also something eery about this, because one of the things that a magazine offers is a form of voyeurism – you inhabit the world of the magazine silently and anonymously. You take it in, and it’s aesthetic and mandate are communicated internally. This whole talking thing makes the magazine more….aggressive. It moves it one step closure to being tv/video, and perhaps that is the logical next step. It’s all simultaneously disturbing and exciting – is this how silent film devotees felt when the “talkies” arrived? The door is wide open, can’t wait to see what creative concoctions come forth.