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| Frequency | Bi-weekly |
|---|---|
| Circulation | 63,043 [1] |
| Publisher | Patrick Coyne |
| First issue | August 1959 |
| Company | Coyne & Blanchard, Inc. |
| Based in | Menlo Park, CA |
| Language | English |
| Website | www.commarts.com |
| ISSN | 0010-3519 |
Communication Arts is the largest international trade journal of visual communications.[1] Founded in 1959 by Richard Coyne and Robert Blanchard, the magazine’s coverage includes graphic design, advertising, photography, illustration and interactive media. The magazine continues to be edited and published under the guidance of Coyne’s wife Jean and their son Patrick Coyne. Currently, Communication Arts (CA) publishes six issues a year and hosts five creative competitions in graphic design, advertising, photography, illustration and interactive media and two Web sites, commarts.com and creativehotlist.com.
History
In the mid 1950s, Richard Coyne and Robert Blanchard ran a design firm/advertising agency (Coyne & Blanchard, Inc.), owned a typography shop (CBM Type), and wanted to set up a color separation and lithographic stripping facility.
They reasoned a magazine could utilize these facilities when they weren't being used by the design/ad business. Prior to CA’s first issue, all magazines and newspapers were printed on letterpress. Offset lithography was just beginning to become popular, but for small and short-run jobs. With a finer screen and less expensive preparation, Coyne and Blanchard found that offset lithography offered designers greater freedom. One of the biggest obstacles was how to reproduce work originally printed on letterpress that used special inks and colored paper. Their solution was to create four-color screen tints in 10% increments and then print master sheets showing all the possible combinations.
The first issue debuted in August 1959 as the Journal of Commercial Art.[2] Among a number of innovations, it was the first U.S. magazine printed by offset lithography.[3] It was also perfect bound. Since there were no commercial perfect binders available, issues were bound by hand in an experiment under an arrangement with Stanford University Press.
Within six months, paid circulation grew to 10,000. Paid advertising, however, was low and CA was not a financial success. After Blanchard left to go into business by himself, Coyne, and a small staff, continued to write the copy, design the layouts, and even to do all the litho stripping. Through the '60s and '70s, CA documented the increasing sophistication of visual communications as some firms grew into large identity/branding organizations with international offices while other practitioners became specialists in packaging, annual reports and signage. Paid circulation increased to 38,000.[4]
Notable individuals and firms profiled during this period included:
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The magazine’s evolution continued to parallel the fundamental changes in the industry itself. In the 1980s the desktop publishing revolution began and computers were incorporated into design offices. CA made the conversion, and like the profession, it absorbed the role of the typesetter.
As the visual communications field grew in size and scope, the technology revolution continued to accelerate. Then, on October 13, 1994, Netscape released the beta version of its Mosaic Netscape 0.9 Web browser. Now viewers could see images and text combined with a reasonable amount of visual sophistication from any computer connected to the Internet. Soon after, the Web began its explosive growth. Almost every company and institution realized they wanted a Web site, and demand quickly outpaced the small supply of capable Web designers. Many traditional print-based designers added Web design to their skill set and joined the Internet boom.
Notable individuals and firms profiled during this period included:
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CA’s current audited paid circulation is 63,043[1] and an average of 3.1 people read or look at each issue, giving Communication Arts an estimated reach of 189,129 readers.[5]
Competitions
To generate additional income and editorial content, CA began an annual juried competition in 1960. Within a few years, the annual competition grew in size and stature and was eventually segmented into four different annual competitions: graphic design, advertising, photography and illustration. Seeing the need for visual communicators to both explore and expand interactive media, CA launched a fifth competition, the Interactive Annual in 1995. All the CA competitions are juried by respected creative professionals who help to establish the annual competitions as benchmarks for creative excellence.
Past jurors have included:
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Online Properties
CA was the first major design publication to launch a Web presence (Communication Arts) in 1995.[6] In addition to showcasing creative work in visual communications, part of the initial launch was a career section that included listings of jobs available and wanted. This section grew quickly and was relaunched in 2001 as a standalone site, Creative Hotlist. On Creative Hotlist, individuals can post resumes, job-wanted listings and online portfolios. Companies and organizations can post information about capabilities and services and from the same account, post job openings and, through the acceptance of resumes online, manage a hiring search. Users can search for individuals and firms by keyword, location or level of experience. Search results can be further filtered by keyword, location or experience and sorted alphabetically, by the posted date or geographic location. Sorted results can be saved, filed and accessed anytime.
CA’s companion website (Communication Arts) was relaunched in January 2008 and was designed to provide daily inspiration for creative professionals through multiple features. Exhibit features new and innovative projects in graphic design and advertising from around the world. Fresh features the latest cutting-edge work from people, firms and agencies that have been working professionally for approximately five years. This includes those who have changed careers/styles within that same time frame. Webpicks features examples of Web design selected based on a combination of superior aesthetics, technical expertise, functionality and overall site experience. Insights provides inspiration and ideas from well-known/established creatives that other creatives can use in their own careers.
These two websites receive approximately three million page views and 250,000 unique visitors per month.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Audit Bureau of Circulations Publisher’s Statement 12/07
- ^ The Journal of Commercial Art, Vol. 1, #1, August, 1959, Palo Alto, California
- ^ “Yesterday in CA,” Communication Arts, Vol. 31, #2
- ^ SRDS Publisher’s Sworn Statement, June 30, 1979
- ^ http://www.commarts.com/download/mediaInfo.pdf
- ^ http://www.audreylynn.net/MIPA/MIPA_Resources.html
- ^ http://www.commarts.com/advertise/web_overview.html http://www.commarts.com/advertise/web_overview.html