RHS Publications – The Garden
My next journey on my horticultural escapades took me to the lovely city of Peterborough
It had been quite a busy period; Germany one week, working at RHS Wisley and now journeying up to Peterborough for a couple of days. Brilliant opportunities and networking, but I must admit it does get a bit tiring. However, I was thoroughly looking forward to seeing how the magazine was put together.
I arrived to Peterborough
We proceeded to sit down and discuss the process of how the magazine is produced each month and the aims and objectives of the publication.
The team are faced with the task of satisfying the audience members, as well as targeting new members. The typical reader of The Garden is middle/ upper class woman in their 50’s, quite well-off and mainly based in the South East of England. This is why Chris explained to me why the font is written in softer shades of colour, and often in italics as these are more effeminate attributes.
Chris is faced with a dilemma with each issue and the odds are always against the team. He must appeal to the main audience but for example, he cannot dismiss the needs of a young male, interested in gardening who lives in a tower block in London
In addition to this, Chris explained the reasons behind The Garden being re-designed last September. This was to make the magazine more readable. This is because our reading habits have changed in recent years thanks to the internet, more visual images, smart phones and easier-to-digest broken down texts. The Garden took on these aspects in order to encourage people to read to the end of the article(s).
The Garden achieved by re-designing the layout on the page, hanging columns. There are also ‘slugs’ at the end of the text. This a term used to describe the green text on the articles that suggest to the reader about finding out more information eg. RHS Wisley. Moreover, this subtly helps to promote the RHS without it being shamelessly branded to the reader.
On a different note, The Garden itself is not essentially a membership attraction. This is instead a job of the marketing team based at Vincent Square, London. However, The Garden is a retainer tool, keeping people as RHS Subscription members.
If for some reason someone is considering leaving the RHS membership, then it is The Garden arriving to their door each month, looking attractive, readable, informative and inspiring that will change a persons mind as they will hopefully feel a strong connection to the horticultural world.
It is essentially understanding the typography of text and psychology of people that makes a magazine sell.
In addition to The Garden, RHS Publications produces quarterly journals of The Plantsman and The Orchid Review.
The Plantsman has been published since 1979 and is a more academic-based publication aimed at a very niche market and produced by one man. The Orchid Review is the oldest publication by the RHS and has been around for 180 years. It is similar to The Plantsman with a scientific perspective produced by one woman, with an audience of 900, most being international.
During my time with RHS Publications, the team were very receptive to me and gave me a lot of their time. This gave me an insight into just how much goes into each issue. There is a lot of work to do, tedious tweaking and lots and lots of reading. Each article is read about 14 times before it goes to press just to make sure it is the closest thing to perfect.
The RHS is continuing to grow. This is thanks to the marketing of horticulture, appealing to a wider audience and getting people involved. In addition to RHS subscriptions continuing to grow, RHS Publications are playing a crucial role by retaining these members, listening to their feedback, being at the forefront of the latest news in horticulture and above all inspiring people to get involved with horticulture and gardening.
Finally, a big thank you to Chris and the team for having me. The pleasure was all mine. Keep up the good work!
