Will Our Shelter Mag Survivors Reach The Rebound Finish Line?

All eyes are on Elle Decor, Architectural Digest and House Beautiful as they move into the last quarter of the year with new Chiefs at their helms. It's a hopeful time for everyone who follows, reads, works in, with and loves  shelter magazines after chewing  so long on the tough threat of their demise during the "print is dead" era.

A recent article by Folio Magazine cautiously notes a rebound for the category is occurring, but  the most resilient media titles are those that take their brands beyond the printed page with live events, online communities, social media, etc. House Beautiful's Kitchen of Year Event in New York City helped the magazine bring in nearly 50% more ad pages for their annual issue over last year.

Smells like smart marketing to me.

I think Dwell's been the early adopter in this category, being one of the first to deliver their content online, while the rest of the category was slow in accepting that the world was changing.  (Architectural Digest, where have you been?) Let's hope these survivors will reach the rebound finish line better and stronger than when they started.  

Who do you think's done the best job at staying alive through the downturn?

Who's Leading the Print Pack? 20 Biggest Magazines So Far

Which magazine titles are touting the highest circulation numbers these days? Looks like food, gossip and women's lifestyle titles like Family Circle and Woman's Day are some claiming the most dollars from print readers.  Not surprised to find Better Homes & Gardens on the list with a healthy circulation of 7,644,011. See Huffington Post's report of the 20 Biggest Magazines of 2010 to see who's leading the print pack.

Bring Your Magazine Cover to Life with Your Smartphone

Augmented reality. That's what Time Out New York Kids Magazine is creating for their readers in their August issue as the first magazine using a technology that brings the cover to life with a multi-media component. Just shoot your smart phone at the cover to get a video. In this case, it's a video of  PS 22, the award-winning fifth-grade chorus from Staten Island. In today's game of trying to keep print titles in business, this technique is an inventive draw for readers and advertisers. Imagine what your favorite design or fashion magazine could do. 


What do you think? Would this influence your decision to purchase a magazine or newspaper? 

Lifestyle Mags Go iPad: GQ, Glamour,Vanity Fair

In the continuing story of the iPad and the future of our favorite magazines, Conde Nast is adding lifestyle titles Glamour, Vanity Fair and GQ to the iPad roster this year. This summer will surely be exciting time; a period that could see the publishing industry finally settle into a more successful and secure a business model. Are you planning to get an iPad?  Which magazines would you like to see become available?  

Wit Watch: New Digital Shelter Magazine for "Nesting Newbies"

"For a Home Tweet Home" is the cover tag line for the new digital shelter magazine Nesting Newbies.  The vision is certainly young and current, aiming to combine "......a traditional magazine format with the new social media trend of original online videos and blogs to present a cross-platform experience for 'nesting newbies,' the site’s target audience of those who are new to nesting and have no clue when it comes to cooking, entertaining, and decorating. Cooking and decorating enthusiasts will also enjoy the original ideas being presented."  


Looking through the Winter issue, (their second) it feels a bit like a hipper, younger  Better Homes & Gardens with  accessible entertaining, cooking and home design stories. I especially liked the interpretation feature on the spectacularly designed San Francisco Dining By Design tables for DIFFA. One of my favorite design events! Produced by McIntosh & Murphy  and edited by its co-founder Jodi Murphy, the model seems  poised to take full advantage of the reader technology headed our way.  What do you think of Nesting Newbies? Does it feel like another sign of the "old guard" (print home magazines) being phased out? 

Photo: Nesting Newbies

The Future of Magazines Alive in Prototype

I love print magazines. Flipping through their pages, starting at the last page instead of the first, and letting it hang around for a while on my coffee table like a piece of decor that showboats parts of my personality to my guests. So, I still have personal mixed feelings about the idea of a digital magazine. But it's an inevitable reality in the future of magazines.

We now have Lonny, the first all digital home design magazine, and major publishers Conde Nast, Hearst and others have signed onto to jointly produce and distribute digital magazines, dubbed the "Hulu for magazines." So I just HAD to check out this new digital magazine prototype developed by Bonnier. And its undeniably very cool. These guys have a great prototype going, aimed at capturing the print magazine experience.

My questions. Which titles will be available in digital ink, and will any of them be in the design & architecture categories? And, well, will I like curling up with it?

I.D. Magazine Folds

Here we go again. One of the great ones goes down. I.D. Magazine is folding after 55 years in print. This is truly sad news to me and a big loss to the whole design and architecture community. I was just reading through the New & Notable issue this week, noting the thoughtful, insightful and truly intelligent reporting this magazine provides us - ready to renew my subscription. (Photo: FastCompany.com)