Winq

Winq magazine is leading in the niche market of gay lifestyle content. In 2016, Winq merged with with the popular platform gay.nl. Parent company MediaMANsion now owns a varied cross-medially portfolio:

• Winq.nl
• Winq.com
• Winq Magazine NL – high quality lifestyle magazine distributed in the Netherlands and Belgium
• Winq Magazine International – an edition of Winq magazine published in print in 32 countries worldwide
• Gay.nl – a social platform with over 90.000 profiles and up to 100.000 visitors a day
• OUTtv – television channel aired in 5 countries

GRRR was asked to incorporate the brand Winq of premium quality and the populair social platform gay.nl into one digital style. The results show one digital identity and website grasping readers and attracting advertisers. We believe that Winq is more than just a magazine; they have an important role in society spreading a positive and realistic message of a group for whom it is not always easy, also in the Netherlands.

The content of the platform is presented in a logical manner inviting the reader to read more. In stead of a chronological overview, we created themes and categories that comprise the magazine. Based on user research, we introduced four main categories: culture, people, fashion+design and travel.

Winq is appealing to a unique niche market interesting for advertisers. People who read Winq are mostly high educated and have a special interest in, and budget for leisure and fashion. The articles of Winq are therefore of high quality. Winq continuously works on improving their content, and writes more long reads. The new website supports this strategy with a couple of smart design solutions.

Articles are provided with a ‘cheers’ button. A small adjustment that comes in handy for editors and advertisers, who receive an extra feedback tool next to their existing tools. At the same time, we reinforce the community, and therefore, create a more natural link with gay.nl.

The mobile version of Winq.nl has the menu button at the bottom of the page. In this way, it creates a feeling of using an app. Readers are challenged to discover more content and will stay longer on the website. We also added bookmarks to easily save articles of your interest.

Process bar

A subtle bar shows how far you are with reading the article. Easy for the long reads.

We pleasantly worked together with the Winq team, who rely on a great amount of knowledge and precisely know the target groups of Winq en gay.nl. Edwin Hanssen (Winq) was art director and Emiel Brinkhuis (Winq) lead the project. Credits for the technical aspects go to NXTGR.