Newsweek Redesign

IF YOU PICKED UP A NEWSWEEK RECENTLY, YOU'LL NOTICE THE OBVIOUS REDESIGN FRONT TO BACK. DIRK BARNETT (FORMER BLENDER, MAXIM, NYTM) HAS TAKEN THE REIGNS AND HAS HEAVILY FOCUSED ON WHAT MAKES MAGAZINES TRULY AMAZING, THE ART. SURE STORIES AND JOURNALISM CAN BE EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT BUT LETS NOT FORGET THAT A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.

THE COVER IS NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS HARSH BUT ALL REDESIGNS SHOULD START OFF WITH THE COVER. IT NEEDS TO BE A STRONG SIGNIFICATION THAT YOU HAVE CHANGED. WHEN OPENED, YOU GET THIS OVERWHELMING SENSE OF BUSINESSWEEK. THEN IT CHANGES COURSE WITH SERIF TYPE TREATMENTS ALMOST TOO SIMILAR OF THE INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR.

I'M NOT PARTICULARLY SAYING THIS IS BAD. IT'S DEFINITELY A STEP UP AND A FAR MORE FOCUSED LOOK THAN PREVIOUS ISSUES. I'M CONFIDENT DB WILL FIGURE OUT MORE WAYS TO TREAT BOTH ART AND TYPOGRAPHY. IT'S NOT THE BIGGEST STEP, BUT ENOUGH TO SHOW THAT THERE ARE INDEED GOOD THINGS TO COME OUT OF NEWSWEEK. WHAT'S WEIRD TO ME IS, ARE NEWS/BUSINESS MAGAZINES REALLY STARTING TO LOOK FAR SUPERIOR THAN COMMERCIAL MAGS? WEIRD RIGHT??

IMAGES FROM SPD.ORG