Print can do some really good things. There’s the ritual of browsing the local corner shop looking for something you fancy, the bizarrely thin paper that somehow smells bloody delicious, and front covers screaming at you to pick them up and give them a read. Walking past the magazine section at my local Asda, I got to thinking about all the super cool stuff made possible when you whack out the ol’ presses.
One that immediately sprung to mind was Mad Magazine and its fold-ins. They used to have this weird back page thing where the reader folds the page to change one image into another. They’ve been hand-drawn by Al Jaffee since the ’60s, and show two completely different scenes, telling a two-part story that will often subvert what you initially expected to see.
It might not be super deep, cutting satire – Mad’s brand is more pointing out the obvious. You have the question posed at the top of the page – ‘what frightening, ancient relic will be the focus of much attention and fanfare this summer?’ with an accompanying image of an Indiana Jones style adventurer in an ancient tomb. However, folding the page in obscures most of the image to reveal the words ‘John McCain’, along with a goofy looking bust of the former Presidential candidate (this fold-in was from 2008). The content is simple, but the presentation is brilliant. It’s like a game on the back of a magazine – a story is being told, and the reader is a part of it.
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