For many years that I’ve lived in New York City (seven so far), I have subscribed to New York Magazine. It’s a weekly ritual of tearing through the juicy articles, well-thought-out design and of course the too amusing approval matrix. I have to point out however that the amount of fur on the pages of the fashion issue made my skin crawl. Regardless of my personal aversion to wearing fur, I just can’t quit this mag for putting fur in one article (I tried). Anyways, why do I love New York Magazine? I will do some brainstorming on that here:
1. They love New York as much as I do
2. They hate New York as much as I do
3. They appreciate the characters walking on the street, the real estate deals, financial world acquisitions and political scandals more than I do
4. The restaurants reviews are mandatory for making decisions on what new place to check out or recommending a place for a friend
5. The Lookbook (where they stop a random exquisitely/absurdly dressed person on the street and pepper them with questions)
6. This typeface:
Thank you Typophile.com
I think it is a version of the font Vinyl
Eye Magazine features New York Magazine in an article on art direction and how print publications are holding up compared to web-based media. ‘At the heart of the magazine is the relationship between words and pictures and the way they are used to tell a story.’
‘The magazine was founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as the first ‘city magazine’… Adam Moss was appointed editor in March 2004 and hired Luke Hayman as design director soon afterwards. ‘Adam Moss has brought a specific tone of voice to the magazine,’ says design director Hayman. ‘It’s complicated and nuanced: sophisticated, intelligent, funny, serious, self-depreciating. The art direction tries to reinforce that. A huge part of the look of the magazine is due to photo director Jody Quon.’ Eye Magazine #61
Mediabistro also has a great interview on the redesign. When Jody Quon was asked about the challenges of putting together a killer magazine on a weekly pace, she explains: ‘You know, the more you are asked to do, the more you accomplish. The busier you are, the more productive you are. And I think, as much as it can be difficult at times, we are even happier that way.’ Wait, I love her. That’s really true! I heard someone say about President Obama, ‘If you want something done, ask a busy man.’ Now HE’S got a lot on his plate. I can’t complain about my workload at school at all when I think about his job. Jeez…
The redesign of the New York Magazine was genius. The attention to quality and detail is apparent on every page, and consistent every week. My favorite was when they had a cover design contest and I saw my former teacher from Parsons, Evan Gaffney’s designs. He didn’t make the cover but they did a spread of all the runners-up and his were incredible. Check out some of his book cover designs here.