June 2007
The Archives
-
New Launches
Portfolio
My failure to grasp the strategy behind Portfolio Magazine’s staggered roll-out is only one of the reasons I know I’ll never be an executive at Condé Nast. To me, seeing the May issue still moldering on shelves about the time July would be hitting the stands would telegraph to readers that something had gone horribly [...]
-
Custom Publishing, Off the racks
Custom Cars
What motivates the custom publisher? It’s usually not too hard to tell, but the thinking behind the average car company magazine remains oblique. Imagine you buy a new car—you’ve just dropped 25,000, 35,000, 45,000 (more I dare not contemplate, even in the abstract) and what do you get in the mail by way of [...]
-
On the racks
Co-Evolution Quarterly
The development of similar physical forms among species that are not related to one another is referred to as co-evolution by biologists—natural selection solves similar problems in similar ways in different places. Co-evolution almost, but not quite, explains the uncanny similarity between magazine covers and cereal boxes. Both tend to feature questionable celebrities (be they [...]
-
Off the racks
Dearly Departures
Departures may be the all-time worst-named magazine for a hospital waiting room, but that’s where I found this copy—angelic cover model and all—earlier this month. It didn’t help matters that one of the front sections is named “Worldly Goods.” Departures is mailed exclusively to those who carry the American Express Platinum and Centurion cards—which have [...]
-
New Launches
eldr—omg!
Ok, I admit that I bought the premiere, er, excuse me “premiére” issue of Eldr magazine with the intention of making fun of it. It does, at first glance, offer myriad opportunities for ridicule, starting with the i.m.-influenced name—which makes sense because we all know that the over-60 set have adapted instant messaging like no [...]
-
Backbenchers, On the racks
Backbenchers
In the excellent ’80s British comedy Yes, Prime Minister, baldly ambitious Pol. Jim Hacker inadvertently reveals his intentions to seek the PM position by denying that he’s after the job, but in just the sort of banal, generic language politicians use when they are being coy. In addition to raising the Time/Family equation, he asserts [...]
-
Off the racks
Chip Kidd, Magazine Designer
If you’re in the business, you’d have to be living under a rock to have missed book specialist Chip Kidd’s covers. But the question on every editorial art director’s mind is: What would happen if Chris designed a magazine? Not that long ago, he did—or at least one issue of one—the Fall 2006 issue of [...]
-
The Stacks
SPD 40
I didn’t buy SPD Solid Gold, The Society of Publication Designer’s 40th Anniversary volume although I was tempted—it has a lot of nice work. The trouble with anniversary volumes, however, is that they tend to be edited with an eye towards what’s relevant for today’s readers, and what reflects best on the reputation of the [...]
-
New Launches
Under Construction
designingmagazines.com is the companion blog for Designing Magazines, coming in November from Allworth Press. We’ll be starting up soon.
Designing Magazines
About
Designing Magazines is a book and blog edited by Jandos Rothstein. The book is published by Allworth Press You’ll find contributor biographies and links here.Order the book
Buy the book from Amazon
Teaching with Designing Magazines
Using Designing Magazines to teach magazine or editorial design? You’ll find sample syllabi and other resources here.Designing Magazines: The Store
Recommended books on publication design and art direction can be purchased Through Designing Magazines’ Amazon Portal .search
recent
Archives
- June 2010 (1)
- December 2009 (1)
- August 2009 (6)
- July 2009 (2)
- January 2009 (1)
- October 2008 (3)
- September 2008 (4)
- July 2008 (6)
- June 2008 (9)
- May 2008 (5)
- April 2008 (14)
- March 2008 (6)
- February 2008 (14)
- January 2008 (14)
- December 2007 (9)
- November 2007 (13)
- October 2007 (13)
- September 2007 (12)
- August 2007 (10)
- July 2007 (15)
- June 2007 (9)
Categories
- Art Direction (14)
- Backbenchers (2)
- Classics (15)
- Custom (1)
- Custom Publishing (4)
- In the Ether (15)
- Magazines of Mystery (3)
- Misc. (28)
- New Launches (21)
- Off the racks (21)
- On the racks (21)
- Pages (10)
- Photography (1)
- Process (9)
- Redesigns (11)
- Shameless self-promotion (6)
- Teaching (6)
- The Stacks (7)
- Trend Spotting (4)
feeds
Copyright
Copyright © 2007–2010 by Jandos Rothstein. All rights reserved.This blog is based on a design by Upstart Blogger.