net (magazine)

net was a monthly print magazine that published content on web development and design. Founded in 1994, the magazine was published in the UK by Future plc. It was widely recognized as the premiere print publication for web designers.[1][2][3][4]

Net
EditorSteven Jenkins
CategoriesInternet
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation12,703 Jan-Dec 2016
PublisherFuture plc
First issueDecember 1994
Final issue
Number		June 2020
332
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.creativebloq.com/net-magazine

The magazine was initially aimed at the general Internet user, but was adapted into a title aimed at professional and novice web designers; a significant proportion of its readers were full-time web developers. Its sister publication, the web design-focused Creative Bloq blog, is estimated to receive over 10 million monthly readers according to analytics firm SimilarWeb.[5]

The company, and its parent Future plc, were also known for their annual The Net Awards, which was an awards body recognizing outstanding achievements in the web development industry.[6][7] The magazine ended publication in June 2020.

History

The magazine was founded in 1994, originally titled as ".net",[8] with the first issue appearing in December. Its then editor was Richard Longhurst and assistant editor was Ivan Pope. It was initially aimed at the general Internet user in the early days of the internet and World Wide Web gaining wider momentum.

In August 2006 (Issue 152), the magazine was redesigned to include a new themed cover design and a new inner layout. Other changes were the addition of a new section at the back of the magazine called Trash replacing comics by drew and the Hi! Monkey[9] Soon after the redesign a column entitled Web Drifter was introduced; written by Martin Sargent, it usually contained issues and language considered vulgar by the readership, and it was subsequently cancelled.

Also in August 2006, the Penny Forum[10] section was removed but reinstated for issue 153 onwards due to large reader response to its removal. Another addition was Web Pro in the latter half of the magazine. This is sectioned into several topics (web security, careers, search engine news and web hosting) and written by industry professionals. There is also a web FAQ section.

In December 2013 (issue 248) it was re-badged as "net" (magazine) to end confusion with Microsoft's .NET Framework which launched in 2002. Along with the name change the magazine was given the tagline "The voice of web design".

Future Plc announced in April 2020 that it would cease publication due to commercial reasons caused by COVID-19 pandemic with issue 332 (June 2020) being the last.[11]

Net Awards

The ".net" brand was known throughout the web development industry for its long-running annual The Net Awards, which awards outstanding achievements in the field.[6] The awards recognized the new talent, trends, and technologies that had pushed the web forward over the previous twelve months, as well as recognizing outstanding contributions by established individuals and companies. The annual judging panel was made up of notable industry veterans and thought leaders.[12]

Categories included Agency of the Year, Individual Outstanding Contribution, Developer of the Year, and Best Collaborative Project.[13] Notable past winners include BBC News (redesign of the year), Dropbox (mobile app of the year), Old Spice (viral campaign of the year), Flickr (mobile site of the year), and Jeffrey Zeldman (web standards advocate).[6]

The annual voting process began with a public nominations phase. In 2015 alone, over 1,000 nominee considerations were submitted.[14] These were whittled down to ten nominees per category by the award's judging body. Next, a public voting phase occurred to allow for community impact to play a role in each project's consideration. Finally, the judges weighed in to determine the winners of each category. Awards were given out live at the year-end ceremony in London.

Conference

net launched its Generate Conference in 2014. The event consisted of a single-track, two-day series of speeches and workshops presented by prominent individuals in the web design industry.[15]

The inaugural conference took place in London, with Shopify and Badoo acting as featured sponsors.[16][17] The 2015 conference took place in New York City, with Media Temple acting as the featured sponsor.[18]

Past speakers included Dan Cederholm (of Dribbble), Jake Archibald (of Google Chrome), Remy Sharp (of Polyfill), Ethan Marcotte (of responsive web design), and Elliot Jay Stocks (of Adobe Typekit).[19]

References
  1. "10 Print Magazines for Web Designers". Awwwards. April 12, 2011.
  2. Lazaris, Louis (March 5, 2010). "Print Magazines for Web Designers, Digital Artists, and Photographers". Smashing Magazine.
  3. "14 Essential Magazines for Graphic Designers". Webdesigner Depot. January 21, 2009.
  4. "30 High Quality and Most Influential Web Design Blogs of All Time". 1stWebDesigner. July 31, 2016.
  5. "creativebloq.com Analytics". SimilarWeb. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  6. Goss, Patrick (November 18, 2010). "Old Spice and BBC win at the .net Awards 2010". TechRadar.
  7. "We're really proud to be Geeks, say Shropshire friends". Shropshire Star. February 8, 2014. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014.
  8. "Writing About the Web... On the Web - The History of the Web". 18 April 1998.
  9. Hi! Monkey was a regular column written by monkey from himonkey.net. Monkey was originally featured in the magazine’s The Brains Behind Archived September 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine interview in October 2005 (issue 141). His subsequent columns highlighted monkey’s unique writing style as he expounded on a number of eclectic topics. It ran from issue 143 (December 2005) to issue 151 (July 2006) when the magazine was redesigned. Archives of his columns Archived March 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine are hidden on monkey's site.
  10. Penny Forum is a short piece with any surreal or joke threads from the magazines forum
  11. Tobias van Vanschneider (April 29, 2020). "The end of net magazine and the future of print". Vanschneider. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  12. "The net awards 2015 jury". thenetawards.com.
  13. "net awards 2015: nominations end in two days". Creative Bloq. April 17, 2015.
  14. "Voting opens for the net awards 2015". Creative Bloq. May 15, 2015.
  15. Sarah Lawrence (January 22, 2014). "Top 10 Design Conferences to Attend This Year". Paste.
  16. "Generate London conference is nearly here". TechRadar. September 22, 2014.
  17. "London 2014 – Generate Conference". generateconf.com.
  18. "New York 2015 – Generate Conference". generateconf.com. Archived from the original on December 29, 2015.
  19. "Videos". generateconf.com.
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