News
14 July 2010
Toronto Life redesign goes back to the future
TORONTO—Toronto Life magazine, published by St. Joseph Media, has undergone its first design transformation since Sarah Fulford took over as editor of the publication in 2007.
Art director Jessica Rose says the starting point for the complete overhaul of the magazine was actually past designs of the book. “We wanted to be inspired by Toronto Life,” says Rose. “I grew up with the magazine in my house and I had an ideal version of the magazine in my head. We went way back, looking at every redesign and identifying the key changes made each time.”
The Toronto Life flag was re-imagined by looking at older incarnations by London design firm A2/SK/HK, says Rose. “We decided to continue the tradition of the logo and work with older visual elements and build on those,” she says. “The issue with Toronto Life is we cover a variety of content. There needs to be a framework on the cover that you can see it a million miles away. So we brought back the red box in the logo. Except it's not solid, it has a transparency like a piece of film that sits on the cover.”
Rose says the magazine has also changed the way it treats advertising, working with it rather than against it. “The way we work with advertising is really thought out now, beforehand,” she says. “A lot of other publications act like advertising is a bad thing, not working with it so neither the advertising, nor the editorial looks good. We are looking at it from the standpoint that ads are awesome, they belong in magazines. How can we work with them to make them better for everyone?”
Another change is how Toronto Life is organized, says Rose. “It is now a hyper-navigated, Feng Shui magazine,” she says. “Whatever section you are in, you know you’re there because of specific colours and patterns for each.”
The grid of the magazine is more exposed in the new design and, at the same time, is also more condensed, leaving more room for words on each page. “We went back to a cleaner, smarter, denser feeling rather than the previous design which was much more light." Contact: Torontolife.com
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A cover from the old Toronto Life (left) and the new (right)
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Art director Jessica Rose says the starting point for the complete overhaul of the magazine was actually past designs of the book. “We wanted to be inspired by Toronto Life,” says Rose. “I grew up with the magazine in my house and I had an ideal version of the magazine in my head. We went way back, looking at every redesign and identifying the key changes made each time.”
The Toronto Life flag was re-imagined by looking at older incarnations by London design firm A2/SK/HK, says Rose. “We decided to continue the tradition of the logo and work with older visual elements and build on those,” she says. “The issue with Toronto Life is we cover a variety of content. There needs to be a framework on the cover that you can see it a million miles away. So we brought back the red box in the logo. Except it's not solid, it has a transparency like a piece of film that sits on the cover.”
Rose says the magazine has also changed the way it treats advertising, working with it rather than against it. “The way we work with advertising is really thought out now, beforehand,” she says. “A lot of other publications act like advertising is a bad thing, not working with it so neither the advertising, nor the editorial looks good. We are looking at it from the standpoint that ads are awesome, they belong in magazines. How can we work with them to make them better for everyone?”
Another change is how Toronto Life is organized, says Rose. “It is now a hyper-navigated, Feng Shui magazine,” she says. “Whatever section you are in, you know you’re there because of specific colours and patterns for each.”
The grid of the magazine is more exposed in the new design and, at the same time, is also more condensed, leaving more room for words on each page. “We went back to a cleaner, smarter, denser feeling rather than the previous design which was much more light." Contact: Torontolife.com
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the rest of the world is getting instant (and free) content about toronto from the many high-quality blogs that have emerged.
i also grew up with toronto life, but times have changed and i cannot justify buying a magazine when so much info is at my fingertips. there are more tree-huggers now
often companies think a redesign will rescue a failing business model -- when it it only signals failure
ironically, they are going back to the past, when they should be going forward, investing more online -- even though many of the younger online competitors will eat Toronto Life for lunch
sadly in 10 years they will not be around -- but all good things must come to an end
1. I just turned 30 and still love print. Am I considered the "older generation"? (I'm unsure, LOL.) The majority of people I ask still prefer print. Maybe they are "old" too? Linda, how old are you? I'm curious to know who all these people are who have so-called "abandoned" print or never read it to begin with.
2. Free high-quality blogs? Please share. I consider blogs, however, to be a totally different format from magazines. I presonally prefer in depth stories or interesting infographics.
3. I doubt TL did a redesign to "rescue a failing business model". Redesigns are very common today.
4. From what I heard, TL is investing into their online. I'm not totally sure, but I think it unfair for you to assume they are not.
5. I'm not sure why you think TL will not be around in 10 years.
It's been a while since I last visited, but they have redesigned the site, too. It has more up to date info and it's free!
Revolution, not devolution, is the answer. Interactivity (especially with/for advertisers) is key, mobility is the platform. Chop down content, consider it you're most valuable asset, then push it in nuggets at your (new) audience. TL's got plenty of content both historical and current to play this new media game with ... but ...
There is certainly an amount of risk involved in re-shaping your medium, and change is not always accepted by the old guard, but neither is reinventing the same old wheel of print publishing.
Re: Jessica Rose's comment about ad's
A decade ago, when both my self and former editor Jim Sutherland headed-up the national award-winning city pub Vancouver magazine, we never, ever considered advertisers our evil counterpart. In fact, Jim (and I) would carefully consider placement and design (in favor of both ad and edit) in every issue. We knew who's trough we were eating from.
Making mistakes are necessary in order to make that move more boldly forward. Let's just hope that they don't get too comfortable with that pub print easy chair, and start investing in something truly revolutionary ... setting a precedent for all publishers Canada-wide.
Anna
p.s anyone with a shred of class doesn't bring their laptop into the loo.
get with the times.
and if that's the case, how many computers, cell phones, and packaging for these products have you disposed of?
many designers specialize in print and many are very eco-minded.