The New Newsweek
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
On Monday, March 7, Newsweek hit newsstands with what they hoped would be a fresh new look.
Dirk Barnett, who came to Newsweek from Maxim magazine, is trying to take Newsweek in a new design direction.
The new design is focused more on photos. The old Newsweek lacked the visual appeal of many magazines, and therefore had a hard time attracting readers that are more visual readers.
Although the company had good intentions, the feedback about the new Newsweek has been almost brutal.
In an article published by Columbia Journalism Review, the quotes presented are all negative towards the new Newsweek design. The New York Post stated, "New Newsweek hits streets with a whimper."
Others have been even more harsh on the new design. An editor of The Awl, Choire Sicha, voiced his opinion by saying, "Mmm, it’s like soaking in a nice warm bath of a comfortable yesterday." He then goes on very bluntly, talking about how even the new Newsweek appears to be geared toward 40-some year olds in the doctor's waiting room.
Even though this criticism may be accurate, the new design is still a visual improvement from before. The magazine isn't going to recover overnight, and this is a big step in the right direction
To view some of the new pages of Newsweek click here.
Photo credit: FontShop via Flickr on Creative Commons
1 comments:
Brand image is key, and I personally wonder whether this will come back and haunt Newsweek. They had no reason to change what worked. If it isn't broke, then don't mess with it.
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