The art of making magazines

By Leon Louw, founder of WhyAfrica and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine.

Social media and technology have made a huge impact on the way we find stories, write articles, design the lay-out and in the printing process. Most of all, it has affected the way we distribute magazines. Gone are the days of printing magazines and then posting them via the post office or courier to destinations unknown.

Interactive digital magazines are on the cusp of a revolution. Technology and trends like Virtual Reality, Gaming, filmmaking, and AI will affect the way we produce our magazines at WhyAfrica in a big way over the next three years.

These trends and technology will impact not only the consumer market, but also traditional trade magazines and the B2B market. Always lagging a few years behind the rest, B2B is slowly catching up and moving away from traditional ways of publishing. Companies are starting to step into the exciting world of proper storytelling and not only advertising or editorial articles focussing on their products and services. But the process is gradual and not embraced by all.

At WhyAfrica we continue staying on-top of these developments. Although we are transitioning as fast as we can, our magazines are a mix of the old and the new. However, we are investing a lot of time and resources in developing something interactive and unique, something exciting and something the B2B space has not seen, so continue following us as we take baby steps into this new world.

Nevertheless, to keep all our feet on the ground, WhyAfrica has published our hybrid April issue last week, with a big focus on agriculture and the natural resources of Africa, a bit on energy, we look at the top five mining project in Africa, and we analyse the trends that will shape Africa in 2024. But there is a lot more to read and see, so if you click on this link, you can access our flip-over version on the website https://www.whyafrica.co.za/magazines/issue-12/

WhyAfrica publishes four magazines per year and distribute our printed and digital magazines in innovative new ways to make sure they get to their destination safely, and that your story is seen across the African continent.

Our special mining magazine is printed in February and distributed digitally, at the Mining Indaba conference and all other mining events we attend during the year. Our April issue focusses on agriculture, mining exploration, technology, energy, tourism, environmental management, and extreme weather events.

This magazine is available digitally and a small number are distributed at events across Africa throughout the year. Our Road Trip Preview magazine looks at all the sectors we cover in the countries we visit during our Road Trip. This magazine is printed and distributed in all the countries and on project sites in the countries we visit during the Road Trip.

The Road Trip Review magazine is an interactive journey with us through the countries and projects sites that we visit during our trip, including video snippets interviews, great images, and other interactive features.

If you think out of the box, and if you are interested in advertising, editorial, or telling and publishing your story, contact us as soon as you can.

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