A supplement in print publishing is a smaller, weekly or monthly accompaniment to the main publication; usually being slid into the final print product, or as a standalone spin-off issue – an example of this being the Guardian Food magazine.
They are often less time sensitive, and cover less urgent topics away from more current affairs; though continues to follow the parent publication’s views on things.
They exist with most major daily publications, such as the Telegraph, Guardian, and the Times; and cover a wide range of material, such as education, food, and lifetyle.
For photographers, supplements provide a great platform for exposure, as well as quick, regular, and challenging work due to a quick turnaround.
I purchased the Saturday edition of these three newspapers, and the immediate thing I noticed was the amount of ‘supplement; that comes with the original publication was much larger than the actual publication itself; and, like my initial brief research suggested, cover a wide range of topics (though much larger than I expected, it seemed.)
As well as general travel supplements, there are individual, albeit short in length, broadsheet sized inserts for specific destinations (in this case, Australia and Italy). Also included is a broadsheet spread on property and money.
Also included with these publications are entirely seperate magazines, like the lauded Guardian Feast magazine, the Times Magazine, Telegraph Magazine and the Guardian Review.
Before I took this image, I removed the advertising sleeves from some of the packs. The Times, being a more middle market newspaper, seemed to have a much greater number of advert inserts; while the actual magazine itself has even more full page ads. After comparing these to other magazines from broadsheets, I realise that the target market of the paper doesn’t affect the amount of ads, nor the products advertised
Almost all aspects are covered, and this gives me plenty of material to analyse, too.
Ryan Trower 