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.
New Work: Adweek
Advertising, like the media, has been undergoing a massive transformation in recent years. Audiences and consumers have splintered across countless platforms and niche markets. Advertising, media buying and brand building have been joined by new fields like branded content, social networks, guerrilla marketing and digital strategies. Monolithic agencies are diversifying into specialized divisions and boutique firms. To take all this in, advertising industry trade Adweek is consolidating its three titles—Adweek, Brandweek and Mediaweek—into one publication that launches today in a bold new format designed by Pentagram’s Luke Hayman.
In the early 1990s Adweek split into the three titles to serve different segments of the advertising community, distinctions that are increasingly murky today. (In recent months, the three titles have been sharing much of the same content.) The new Adweek is published by Prometheus Global Media, who purchased the title from Nielsen along with other trades like Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, which Prometheus reintroduced as a glossy monthly last fall. Prometheus is led by Richard Beckman, a long-time publishing executive who has a vision of transitioning Adweek from a trade magazine to a B-to-I, or “business to influencer,” title that targets thought leaders and consumers across industries, not just advertising. Adweek’s new editorial director of the new Adweek is Michael Wolff, the journalist, Vanity Fair columnist and media entrepreneur, who has a unique perspective on the changes in the industry. Wolff announced the unified Adweek in an open letter on the cover of last week’s issue, writing: “It’s time for one conversation, not separate ones.”