New Work: Ladies’ Home Journal
Today Ladies’ Home Journal launches a much-discussed new editorial direction that incorporates user-generated content inspired by blogs and social media. The new strategy coincides with a redesign by Pentagram’s Luke Hayman and team that helps make the magazine more open, engaging and personal—more like a “journal.”
One of the country’s top ten magazines in paid circulation, Ladies’ Home Journal has a circulation of 3.2 million and a readership of over 12 million. Founded in 1883, the magazine is one of the “Seven Sisters” and in 1907 became the first American magazine to reach 1 million subscribers. Now published by Meredith, it has remained a fixture in American women’s lives. The redesign by Pentagram updates the magazine’s format to make it accessible, contemporary and relevant to today’s audiences, establishing a tone of intimacy that complements the new editorial strategy.
New Work: ‘Cosmopolitan’
Cosmopolitan is the most popular women’s magazine in the world, a publishing powerhouse with 63 international editions, printed in 32 languages and distributed in more than 100 countries. With a circulation of over 3 million in the U.S. alone, the magazine is one of Hearst’s most valuable properties and longest-running titles; it was first introduced in 1886 as a family magazine before transitioning in the 1970s under legendary editrix Helen Gurley Brown to become the sexy women’s “Cosmo” of today. Currently led by editor in chief Kate White, the magazine enjoys its status as a pop-cultural mainstay and trusted go-to source for information on topics like sex, relationships, fashion, health and beauty.
Now, working closely with White and Cosmo design director Ann Kwong, Pentagram’s Luke Hayman and his team have redesigned Cosmopolitan to create a bold new version of the iconic magazine. The refresh launches with Cosmo’s January 2012 issue, on newsstands today.
Putting NYC Design on the Map
From one design capital to another: This month the Amsterdam-based interior design magazine Eigen Huis & Interieur published a special “New York Design Guide” issue that highlights landmarks of the New York City design scene. Pentagram’s Luke Hayman and his team recently redesigned EH&I and established the masthead’s ampersand as an icon of the brand. Each month a different designer is invited to interpret the ampersand for the opening of the “Interieur” section, and for the New York issue, Hayman created an ampersand inspired by Massimo Vignelli’s classic 1972 map of the New York City subway system. In the new version, the lines of the ampersand playfully connect contemporary and historic New York designers, agencies and institutions, from Milton Glaser, George Lois, Ruth Ansel and the Museum of Modern Art to Karlssonwilker, Local Projects, Dror and Pentagram (of course). Download a PDF of the map here.
Inside the issue, Hayman and Pentagram designer Shigeto Akiyama each contribute a list of New York’s “must-sees,” and Hayman is interviewed in the magazine’s Het Katern section. Paula Scher’s New York loft is one of the featured interiors.
Project Team: Luke Hayman, partner-in-charge and designer; Shigeto Akiyama and Felix Koutchinski, designers.
Luke Hayman’s 5 Rules of Magazine Design (Video)
Quick Link: Luke Hayman’s 5 Rules of Magazine Design (Video)
Luke Hayman on Choosing the Right Magazine Layout
Quick Link: Luke Hayman on Choosing the Right Magazine Layout
New Work: ‘The Atlantic’ December 2011
Pentagram continues its collaboration with The Atlantic with the December 2011 issue, on newsstands next week. Luke Hayman and his team have art directed the issue, utilizing the redesign they originally created for the magazine in 2008. The issue is the second in a series the team is designing for the magazine, following an eye-catching November issue that garnered significant buzz this fall.
Hayman and his team once again worked with photo editor Ayanna Qunint to highlight a series of striking images in the magazine. The new issue includes a long-form piece about the United States’ troubled partnership with Pakistan, and the cover features an arresting photograph of a Pakistani fighter alongside the headline, “The Ally from Hell.” The designers have been commissioned to art direct at least one more issue of the magazine following this one.
New Work: ‘The Atlantic’
This month Pentagram had the privilege of revisiting one of our favorite recent projects, the redesign of The Atlantic. Luke Hayman and team were invited to art direct the November issue of the magazine, on newsstands today. Hayman, with Michael Bierut, redesigned the iconic general-interest magazine in 2008, creating a smart and striking framework for its wide-ranging editorial voice.
The November issue gave the designers an opportunity to make the most of this framework. The cover story, “All the Single Ladies,” is an investigation by writer Kate Bolick of “the new scarcity” of marriageable men given the current economy and increased opportunities for women, using her own story as a case study for the piece. Bolick was photographed by Chris Buck for the cover—a rarity for the magazine, which does not typically feature an article’s author on the cover—and the portrait matches the bold tone of the piece, which is already creating a healthy amount of buzz. Inside the magazine, the team collaborated with photo editor Ayanna Qunint on a mix of powerful images that set off the strong, simple structure established in the 2008 redesign. Hayman and his team have been commissioned to art direct at least two more issues of the magazine following this one.
New Work: ‘Eigen Huis & Interieur’
The Netherlands is perhaps the most design-savvy country in the world, and Eigen Huis & Interieur (Home & Interior) is the magazine that brings the Dutch love for design home. With a broad, eclectic focus, EH&I covers everything from interior design, architecture and products to art and culture for an audience that encompasses homeowners and design aficionados, practicing designers and architects. Pentagram’s Luke Hayman and his team have redesigned EH&I with a bold new format that asserts the magazine’s position as the leading authority on modern home design.
DJ Stout Redesigns the Times Educational Supplement
Quick Link: DJ Stout Redesigns the Times Educational Supplement
2wice Launches New iPad App and Website
2wice, the visual and performing arts journal, has always provided an alternative performance space for dance, one that had the advantage of being a permanent record of this most ephemeral art form. Now 2wice has published its first iPad app, “Merce Cunningham Event,” a tribute to the legendary choreographer (1919-2009) that combines live-action video, interviews and historic dance photography originally developed in collaboration with Cunningham. The app is available for free downloads through iTunes, building upon Cunningham’s lifelong interest in using technology to present dance in new ways.
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