Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist Compared
Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist is a niche magazine targeting individuals interested in jewelry design using stones and metal. The magazine is very specialized, with only articles on different designs and the different tools artists can use.
The magazine was first published in 1947 under the name Lapidary Journal. The magazine changed formats in 2007 and revamped its focus, changing its name to Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist in the process. This change occurred because two thirds of the audience confirmed jewelry making was the most important focus of the magazine.[1] I compared the 1994 Lapidary Journal to the 2010 Jewelry Artist, and selected the 1994 August issue (versus the 1998 October issue) because this was the latest magazine available from the 1990s in the Colorado State University library.
The more recent issue of Jewelry Artist is small; the October 2010 issue only had 80 pages total. Most of the stories found in the issue are feature articles about crafting jewelry pieces. The articles are in-depth and include pictures of the various steps.
In contrast, Lapidary Journal from August 1994 has 178 pages, making it more than twice the size of the 2010 magazine. There are 31 pages of instruction for different jewelry projects featured in the magazine as well. The articles found in the 1994 issue are in depth informational articles about the history of stones and tying in how to use the stones today. There is a separate section on crafting jewelry pieces inserted in the magazine.
The layout between the two magazines is very different. Since the 1994 issue was so much larger, it had room for additional interactive sections with the audience. These included a section of mail with readers asking questions to gain advice from professionals in the field, a book review section about technical books in the field, and a final topic talks section about touring shows around the area. Coupled with a detailed calendar, all the events are laid out for the reader. This magazine catered exactly to what its readers needed by encouraging interaction from them. These different sections were interactive because they allowed readers to interact with staff members, and even one another. Today Jewelry Artist fits the necessary information in an events half-page section.
Unlike Vogue, the information about the reader of Jewelry Artist is not readily available online. This brings up a crucial point about the difference between these two magazines; Vogue targets a more general audience while Jewelry Artist is targeted to a specific audience. If advertisers are no longer happy with the circulation numbers Vogue provides there are several similar magazines for advertisers to choose from. These magazines reach a similar audience. For these reasons Vogue is under pressure to deliver the audience advertisers need.
In contrast, Lapidary Journal is in a specific niche. There are few jewelry magazines targeting this niche population. There is one other magazine dealing with the same subject matter, and other jewelry magazines address more specific materials (beads and wire as two examples). Jewelry Artist reaches a specific audience in this magazine.
[1] “About Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist” [online website] (Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist online, access November 2010); available from http://www.jewelryartistmagazine.com/aboutlj.cfm.
The magazine was first published in 1947 under the name Lapidary Journal. The magazine changed formats in 2007 and revamped its focus, changing its name to Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist in the process. This change occurred because two thirds of the audience confirmed jewelry making was the most important focus of the magazine.[1] I compared the 1994 Lapidary Journal to the 2010 Jewelry Artist, and selected the 1994 August issue (versus the 1998 October issue) because this was the latest magazine available from the 1990s in the Colorado State University library.
The more recent issue of Jewelry Artist is small; the October 2010 issue only had 80 pages total. Most of the stories found in the issue are feature articles about crafting jewelry pieces. The articles are in-depth and include pictures of the various steps.
In contrast, Lapidary Journal from August 1994 has 178 pages, making it more than twice the size of the 2010 magazine. There are 31 pages of instruction for different jewelry projects featured in the magazine as well. The articles found in the 1994 issue are in depth informational articles about the history of stones and tying in how to use the stones today. There is a separate section on crafting jewelry pieces inserted in the magazine.
The layout between the two magazines is very different. Since the 1994 issue was so much larger, it had room for additional interactive sections with the audience. These included a section of mail with readers asking questions to gain advice from professionals in the field, a book review section about technical books in the field, and a final topic talks section about touring shows around the area. Coupled with a detailed calendar, all the events are laid out for the reader. This magazine catered exactly to what its readers needed by encouraging interaction from them. These different sections were interactive because they allowed readers to interact with staff members, and even one another. Today Jewelry Artist fits the necessary information in an events half-page section.
Unlike Vogue, the information about the reader of Jewelry Artist is not readily available online. This brings up a crucial point about the difference between these two magazines; Vogue targets a more general audience while Jewelry Artist is targeted to a specific audience. If advertisers are no longer happy with the circulation numbers Vogue provides there are several similar magazines for advertisers to choose from. These magazines reach a similar audience. For these reasons Vogue is under pressure to deliver the audience advertisers need.
In contrast, Lapidary Journal is in a specific niche. There are few jewelry magazines targeting this niche population. There is one other magazine dealing with the same subject matter, and other jewelry magazines address more specific materials (beads and wire as two examples). Jewelry Artist reaches a specific audience in this magazine.
[1] “About Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist” [online website] (Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist online, access November 2010); available from http://www.jewelryartistmagazine.com/aboutlj.cfm.
