Redesign: Wired sports a New Look

With its February 2007 issue Wired magazine has a new look, starting with a tweaked logo/masthead. According to a post on Wired news, ‘the redesign is based on a simple premise: expand the use of provocative photography and inventive illustration while maintaining the tradition of innovative typography and design pioneered by John Plunkett in 1993’.

Here are few of the changes you can expect when you pick up the latest issue of Wired:

New Masthead: Refer to the new cover (large image on top)and older cover (small image to the right)
New Typography: Four new families of type designed by Hoefler & Frere-Jones
Thicker, less glossy paper: Makes the photography stand out and is easier to read (finally!)
Reworked Front of the Book: Start, Posts, and Play get a makeover, Rants+Raves is now ‘Chat’.

However, one feature I am waiting to see is section content sequence indicator (to indicate how many pieces/articles are there in each section and where the readers is in that sequence). I got this info from the website of designer andy rutledge, who calles it ‘a Web-style mnemonic applied to print’

The new look is already getting many rants and a few raves. You can view reader reactions here

Trends: On-Product Publishing

Australia-based Modern Media Concepts' publication iLove is a 32-page glossy women’s magazine contained within the label of a water bottle. The magazine is the outcome of founder Joanna Wojtalik's University project where she developed the concept of On Product Publishing.
Launched in Australia in February 2006, iLove is available in more than 1200 petrol and convenience stores around Australia. This mini magazine (size: 10cm by 7.5 cm) is pitched at the 18-to 25-year old female readers and has a circulation of about 100,000 a week( The site I got this ‘back of the envelop’ number from calculated this by defining that the company has 2% of the australian bottled water market, making it about 100,000 bottles a week, hence that many issues).
iLove readers love the magazine because they can read it anywhere--it fits into their purse, can be used as a shopping reference to take advantage of deals on-the-spot at leading boutiques and other retailers.
The iLove team produces six editions a month. The founder is quoted as saying “The good thing about water is that it has a shelf life of about a year. Editions can stay out for a long time and readers can just pick a bottle by the cover.” Angelina Jolie and Danii Minogue sell out quickly. Bananarama, it would appear, were pretty much left on the shelf.

As the business and the concept expands, MMC is hoping to licence the concept and collect royalties. They have already found partners in the US and are talking to publishing and beverage groups in Australia and Europe.
You can read more about this new concept that integrates magazine publishing with fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) at onproductpublishing website
iLove site also has a very nice step-by-step illustration that shows how the magazine works.

Trends: At the Newsstand on Friday

For the first time in more than 50 years TIME magazine will be ‘on-sale’ on Friday. Writes managing editor Richard Stengel, the change was prompted by the shift in news environment and readers’ input that they though they get the magazine early in the week, they put it aside to read over the weekend. TIME also feels that getting the magazine on newsstands on Friday helps them 'set the news agenda, not just mirror it'.
“The traditional newsmagazine was retrospective, looking back at what happened the previous week, says Stengel, but today's TIME is much more forward-looking, offering you guidance on what's essential to know going forward. Many news sources give you information; we provide knowledge and meaning.”
Read Richard Stengel’s note to readers on Changing Time here
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Just curious: Why do some Indian Monthly magaines show up on the newsstand almost in the middle of the month? I have often gone looking for a particular magazine at the newsstand and been told to come later... And at times I have bought a rival magazine, not really my first choice, but only because it was there.
Any of you had similar experiences?

Article: What Experts Predict for 2007

Start of the year is a good time for forecasts. While there are many lists doing the rounds, here is one that I found most relevant.
At the start of the new year Folio: Alert once again brings us industry professionals' predictions for what 2007 might bring. Here are some trends culled from their long article:

1) Tipping point to digital
2007 will be tipping point for traditional (ink on paper) publishers regarding their legacy business. The market is already punishing traditional publishing companies with lower valuations than multi-platform media companies command. In 2007 traditional publishing companies will be more focused than ever on adding online, television, events, etc. in order to preserve and build enterprise value.
Clay B. Hall, CEO, Aspire Media
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a. Magazines will expand their footprint into digital platforms, building audiences, creating bold new forms of content, and increasing ad revenues.
b. At the same time, more web-originating entities will find launching print magazines as the next logical step to creating deeper communities and a new revenue stream. (WebMD and TheKnot are sterling examples of successful web-to-print launches.)
c. Print magazines will maintain their hold on media advertising spending share, and will still be considered the premiere medium of engagement.
Nina Link, President & CEO, Magazine Publishers of America

2) B-2-B remains strong
a.) The b-to-b media M&A market will remain strong. Look for at least one blockbuster b-to-b media deal in 2007.
b) 2006 has demonstrated the importance of transitioning print brands to the web as the key to the very survival of many magazines. Most consumer and b-to-b magazine publishers understand the importance of this secular change in the industry, but fewer will be successful in making the transition.
c.) Well positioned and well managed magazine brands will demonstrate surprising growth and profits in 2007. Savvy financial investors will see value opportunities that strategic players overlook. We will not experience a media recession in 2007.
Thomas Kemp, Managing Director, Verona Suhler Stevens

3) New Rules of the Game
a) The migration of dollars to online from print will pale in comparison to a far more detrimental effect for many publishers: the emergence of lead gen as the negotiating tool. Readership quality will be determined more by its ability to produce a lead than anything else.
b) Integrated Marketing Programs will be the best way to get the attention of clients. Sellers who are not strategic will be commoditized and driven to the bottom on price. Yet another unfortunate reality of the online emergence for those who dont have the right stuff.
Traver Hutchins, CEO, MediZine

4) Emergence of Brands
Magazines will remain a healthy slice of the media landscape, and will grow more robust as print companies wake up to the fact that they own BRANDS and begin to manage them in the way that their advertisers have long managed their brands.
Tom Beusse, President, Time4Media

5) More Creative Advertising
Magazines will continue to be challenged by advertising partners to deliver full marketing services and capabilities that surround traditional print buys with various multi-media and experiential elements. Magazines that continue to meet these challenges in a creative way, that is also mutually beneficial to all parties, will be the success stories of 2007.
Andy Cohn, Publisher, The Fader

6) More Small Titles; Content emerges Differentiator
a) There will be more new analog printed titles than ever before, but with smaller and smaller circulations. There will be increased focus on Web social networking platforms for publishers and their readers.
b) Publishers will finally realize that content is their true franchise, anti-disregardless of the platform that content is distributed upon, and that we are entering the new golden age of profitable Information Distribution, formally known as publishing.
Bob Sacks, The Precision Media Group

7) Ousourcing, other ways to Increase Revenues
a. A few months ago we saw VNU turn its back on ethics and begin inserting ads in editorial copy. After folks complained, VNU pulled back. I expect more of this. The pressure to increase revenue is enormous and a myth has arisen that the old rules don't apply in new media.
b. 2007 will also be the year of outsourcing. A number of magazines are already experimenting with having their art and design work done overseas. And Reuters opened the door in 2006 to outsourcing some editorial operations to India. But this movement will grow tremendously in 2007. The most likely scenario is that one of the dozens of magazines that have launched overseas editions in Vietnam, China, India and elsewhere will ask their overseas staff to take over U.S.-focused beats.
Paul Conley, Blogspot

8) Growth of FREE Titles
a. Buyers will finally realize that the cash flow from free distribution titles (non-requested) is just as good as the cash flow from requested or paid titles.
b) Hot Sectors? Follow the ad pages.
Drew Lawler, Managing Director, AJ LAWLER Partners

9) Sponsor-supported Publishing
Associations will dramatically increase their sponsor-supported publishing. With new fee-for- service revenue harder than ever to get, with ad pages falling in some areas, and with association members wanting ever more detail to meet professional challenges, sponsor-supported publishing makes sense, as long as appropriate controls are in place to ensure the content retains the objectivity that is core to an associations value.
Robert Fromberg, President, Society of National Association Publications

10) Demand for better circulation metrics
As publishers extend their brands into other media platforms, there will be a greater demand for developing new reporting and metrics reflective of the changing media consumption habits of traditional and new readers. Although they may not be directly comparable, Web and circulation metrics together can demonstrate a publications brand and the reach of its content. As media silos are reduced or eliminated by advertisers, their demand for consolidated accountability across all media platforms will find publishers and ABC providing new tools to address their needs.
Michael J. Lavery, President and Managing Director, ABC

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This is a highly condensed list. You can read the complete one here