I expect the answer will come down to costs!

You betcha. Small fonts are just one of the things up with which we must put as we get older, along with expanding waistlines, annual MOT-checks, low-salt-low-fat-low-taste food, lectures from everyone about the dangers of doing anything enjoyable, hair growing out of your ears and nose instead of your scalp, that involuntary groan that escapes whenever you bend down etc etc. A bigger font means either more pages or less content. If you want a physically bigger magazine then it's bound to cost more to produce. Magnifying/reading glasses aren't expensive – well, only the ones advertised in those awful "Now You are Old" magazines.

HOWEVER all is not lost!! If you are a subscriber (and if not then why not?) you can download your digital issue and use the magnifying glass zoom tool thereon to increase the page size. Just hover the cursor over the text and the tool appears; then click it. It's about 40% bigger than the printed version and that's just on my laptop's crummy little screen. Give it a shot before the Grim Reaper finally takes away all your fun.

Dave M

(BTW my eyesight has been lousy since I was ten years old and I don't find the font too small…..yet)

Edited By Dave Milbourn on 07/04/2013 11:51:08

Good spot Dave, you have to use the ctrl button too. Hold it down and roll away. Or you can use ctrl and the + & – buttons too, for those without a scroll wheel mouse.

Andy

Mike,

This is a subject which has been aired before and one which the Editor and publishers are well aware of.

Unfortunately, such are the economics of magazine production that adding a few more pages wouldn't cost just a few pence extra, it would be quite a bit more than that and would take the price of the magazine well above the price of comparable publications which is not a place the publishers would like it to be.

You would also be wrong in presuming that the price increase is aimed at lining the pockets of the shareholders. Niche magazines such as Model Boats and other hobby titles may rub shoulders on the shelves of W.H. Smith with the likes of Hello and OK but their economics are very different indeed with tiny circulations by comparison and they consequently function on very tight budgets indeed. The editorial staff of Model Boats consists of 1 full time editor and one half time designer who are responsible for producing 13 issues a year for your delectation. Big business it ain't!

To implement a larger font would in practice entail a significant reduction in the content. I know this for a fact because I edit the annual Special issues which do have a larger font and when we have recycled classic articles from the past we need to allow one or two extra pages to get them to fit even when the photos are cut down a bit as well.

For the moment at least, the policy is to keep to the smaller font to maximise the amount of content which, taken over the year, is well in excess of that of our main competitor.

I agree that this can pose difficulties for some people but as a 65 year old who has recently had eye treatment for cataracts and ongoing glaucoma I find that I do not have any problems as long as I ensure that my varifocal prescriptions are kept up to date by regular eye tests. In fact I can still read much smaller print without any difficulty.

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 07/04/2013 19:43:34

I bought a Helix Magnifying Sheet (2 x magnification) to overcome this problem (there are other makes). Any stationers (or the internet/ebay) sells them.

Mike,

No offence taken but people are frequently unaware of the practicalities of magazine publishing and you did rather imply that the shareholders were coining it at the expense of the customers so I thought I should put the record straight.

Your point about the font size is a perfectly valid one and has been raised by others. At the moment Model Boats is sticking with the smaller font in favour of more content but that situation could change in the future if it is perceived that a majority would prefer it otherwise. Everyone's sight is different and I consider myself to be lucky at the moment. It's also true that as you get older you need stronger light and eco bulbs don't tend to help matters. I have a floor mounted reading lamp over the back of my chair and it certainly makes things a lot easier.

I would agree that Tony's suggestion is an excellent practical solution and has the merit of not requiring batteries.

Regards,

Colin