Connecting Through Print and Pixels
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved books and magazines. As a child I would spend hours paging through my grandmother’s recipe books and culinary magazines. I loved feeling the weight of them, carefully turning the pages and being drawn in by the photographs and recipes – totally mesmerised by the tactile pleasure of holding such promise in my hands.
In a similar way, my mom’s fashion magazines offered a window into another world when I was growing up in Middelburg – a world of fashion and glamour, of travel and creativity, all brought to life on the pages I pored over at the kitchen table and lying in bed at night.
It was no surprise then that when that boy from a small town in the middle of the Mpumalanga grew up and found himself working at Elle magazine, alongside legendary editor Jackie Burger, I felt intensely invigorated. It was there that I honed by photography skills and got to grips with all the elements that bring a print magazine to life, skills that I drew on when I started to dream about creating JAN the Journal.
I grappled with many questions around this time. All around us magazines and journals were disappearing from the shelves and the general zeitgeist was that content needed to be delivered via digital. Print, they said, was “dead”. But I wanted the tactile joy that holding a printed product created with purpose and love brings – something that pixels can’t deliver. Digital, on the other hand, can bring a static image to life, with moving images, sounds and immediate delivery. I realised I didn’t need to choose.
And so, JAN the Journal was born. Fast forward six years and we have just finished creating Volume 12. It is a process I love, from the concept, content creation and layout stages right through to print and delivering a product into our readers’ hands, ensuring that the experience of receiving this magnificent book is as memorable as the reading of it. Every detail conveys a message: whether we choose a san serif or serif font, how we crop an image, whether we use colour or black and white – with every decision we want to make sure we are creating something that is memorable.
While printed media is for the readers’ exclusive enjoyment, digital is inclusive, accessible and free – it is for everyone. At JAN our online platforms allow us to cross borders without restrictions, to connect with our JAN family regardless of time zones. The digital world moves fast – it comes at you from all angles. Printed media is slower. It is about finding a comfortable place and falling through the pages into a different world. Print is about having a singular focus. Digital is always on – it is quite literally everything, everywhere, all it once. At JAN we appreciate that these experiences aren’t mutually exclusive – the one feeds the other. Why not both? Pixels allow us to keep it real – through videos we can paint a living picture and allow intimate access to our lives, and through our JAN Academy we come together to learn and grow through our shared experiences.
I liken print and digital to a unique and special dining occasion – they both bring different plates to the table. Each pleases the palate. Delivering a memorable story is the essence of print and digital – it is where connection and meaning are made.
In much the same way, my journey with RMB Private Bank has been a harmonious blend, a reflection of the considered approach that defines both our creative process and the way in which they manage wealth. The human touch paired with accessibility through innovative digital solutions, exclusive and inclusive, print and pixels – these are not contradictions but rather complementary elements, each bringing its unique flavour to the table. And just as JAN the Journal aims to create a memorable experience for its readers, RMB Private Bank ensures that your financial journey is not just managed but crafted with connection, meaning and insight.
