The Concept

A publication bites the dust. Another one bites the dust. This was something elegant, well-designed, well-produced. And free. It was done by the son of the lady who runs the Venus perfume shops. I had noticed the magazine before but never really given it much attention - wherein might lie a tale perhaps - until yesterday. I was idling away some time in the Venus in Can Pic and picked it up. I had rather thought it was a perfumes brochure rather than a guide or however you would describe it. "The last one," I was told. I flicked through it. Shame, I thought. The title is/was "Concepto". The cover was a work of art. It was something to admire, but the cover was the least good aspect of it; it did not make you want to pick it up, merely to not really understand what you were looking at.

Inside were ad designs, photography, all to a high standard. It was hugely professional. It came out monthly. It must have cost not just the arm and the leg but the whole body to print. And then there was the sheer effort that would have been put into it. God alone knows how much advertisers were expected to stump up to pay for all of this.

"Concepto" speaks volumes not just for the skill involved in its production but also for the strengths and weaknesses of the local economy - of employment and entrepreneurship opportunities and of the capacity of that economy to sustain ventures, especially through advertising expenditure. There are hundreds, thousands probably of younger Mallorcans, those from other countries and also the not so young who have high skill levels when it comes to design, to graphics, to websites. Many of them have the ability to pull off a "Concepto". And that's part of the problem. There are simply too many people trying to do the same sort of thing. All the young Mallorcans who go off to university or other educational establishments, are trained in design of different types, and for what? It is a mark of the massive ability and talent that resides here, and truly there is. If only there was the market for it all.

Diversification within the working population away from the staples of tourism and construction leads to all those with an eye for design to seek to embark on a career in what is a seriously competitive market in terms of employment or business opportunities. Even if someone branches out on his or her own, how might they fare? The answer, generally, is not very well. And the reason is that the local market has little or no appreciation of the price of design talent, or no willingness to have such an appreciation. The rates people are paid are scandalous. The best talent ultimately leaves the island, sick and tired of the greed that comes back as the affront of what the greedy are prepared to pay. There again, when there are so many going around offering design work, how else does the market react?

And even if something as good as "Concepto" gets off the ground and lasts for 18 monthly issues, there is an obstacle to overcome - how does it pay for itself? Economic hard times are the not only reason for its floundering I would guess. The magazine was basically aimed at a youthful market. It's not the only one. It covered the whole island. Not the only one. Shame.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Steely Dan, "Brooklyn Knows The Charmer Under Me" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCGiG4rgx5I. Today's title - for a youthful market, which group could be more youthful than these Scots who are no longer that youtfhul?

(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)