DESIGNS ON A REDESIGN
Fortune had one earlier in March, BusinessWeek has one planned for mid-April and The Nation has underdone several in the last few years.
Redesigns are increasingly common in the newspaper and magazine industry as publishers battle to make their products more indispensable and more relevant for their readers.
"We're redesigning it from a graphic and design point of view and to some extent from an editorial point of view," said Managing Editor Andy Serwer of the redesigned Fortune in an interview with The New York Post. He added the decision to go ahead with a new look for the magazine reflected Time Inc.'s bet that you have to be in it to win it. "For all the doomsday scenarios people are painting, people are still reading magazines," said Serwer. "To be in the magazine business, do it right."
The danger with redesigns is that you end up with exactly the same content, just repackaged. Content is king and, to a certain extent, how it's packaged isn't isn't why readers buy. Redesigns should always include fresh and compelling content. Content equals readers and readers means revenue.
4 comments:
"Content equals readers and readers means revenue." Unless, of course, you're publishing in Thailand, in which case ad buyers are only interested in the package and not how many readers you have.
.. or how well you can exaggerate the truth about your circulation figures. Point taken Dan. :-)
Well,I did my Master's thesis on magazine redesign.
I would say not only do the redesigns make the publications look fresh and new, it would also help readers to consume content more easily. A good editor would use this opportunity to re-position the publication as expanding to a new target market as well.
And, since people r busy-lazy these days, beautiful images and informational graphics to accompany stories would not hurt.
Second Dan's point.
Phap vs Phon. Image vs Results. Who wins?
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