A makes its own emag

Belgian-based fashion magazine A has launched a new online archive of its magazines. Every month a different back issue will be placed online, with issues three, four and six already live and issue five coming in October.

Each issue of the biannual magazine is curated by a different fashion designer, and it’s a very visual magazine. There are page after page of beautiful illustrations and some incredible photography, but most issues also have lots of interesting interviews, excerpts and other written pieces by the designers and their A-list friends.

So it’s a shame that the online version is no more than an animation of scrolling spreads. They do a good job of showing what the magazine essentially looks like, but unless I’m missing a trick there’s no way readers can see detail in the pages and certainly no way they can read articles.

Of course that might be the whole point – lots of publishers are still nervous about putting their entire magazines online for all to read for free, but if that’s the case it feels like a missed opportunity. Issuu.com and its like have their flaws, but I’d love to see a full issue of A MAGAZINE up there for all to see (and read).