Magazine Makeover: Bon Appétit
Last month when my copy of Bon Appétit arrived in the mail, I hardly recognized it. The whole look and feel of the magazine has gone through a major redesign. The new masthead is now in a lowercased font (shocking!), and this crosses over into the inside too, where titles of articles and recipes are also lowercased. The inside of the magazine also seems to have a bit of a personality disorder, with different fonts employed in different areas. Also, the editors use backslashes in quite a number of places, including at the end of section headers (example: "MAIN & SIDES/"). And I'm seeing more abbreviations, such as "apps" instead of "appetizers."
Overall, the look is much more playful than the classically styled old look. It also seems to be borrowing a lot from the internet world, with its crazy fonting (yes, I like that as a verb today) and backslashing. I dunno, maybe it will grow on me, but right now, I'm having a little trouble with it all. If I wanted to read recipes and food articles on the web (and I do), then I would read Epicurious (and I do). It feels almost like they've taken the pearls off a classy magazine, and replaced them with some fashion jewelry from the mall. Luckily, you and I both know not to judge a book by its cover, right?
Is it just me? Am I too much of an editor? Does the general public care about fonts and lowercasing? Did you even notice? Add a comment and let me know what you think about the redesign.
--KitchenMaus
ENM on February 26, 2008 at 10:05 PM
In response to your invitation to comment on Bon Appetit's new design, here is my initial reaction: the new cover clearly lacks the class of the old one. Without a single word, the old cover has "fine dining" and "good food" written all over it. The new one--with its hints on what's inside--is just like any other popular magazine whose editors use such notes to entice people to buy it. ENM
Elizabeth McGranahan on February 26, 2008 at 10:12 PM
Concerning my post above, my apologies. I'm new to this. I should have signed it "Liz322," my Amazon nickname!
Sarah on February 27, 2008 at 04:50 AM
It seems as though they are trying to look more "mainstream", more suitable for the grocery store aisle if you will. I'm an editor at heart also and always notice these same things. I am constantly editing signs, advertisements, articles and even books, wondering how some of the things I come across made it through the author and more importantly the editor!!!
LadyNaava on February 27, 2008 at 07:55 AM
I stopped subscribing to bon appetit last year because their magazine became a little to 'out there' as far as recipes are concerned. Many hard to find ingredients, tons of ads and recipes that might appeal to foodies but left me cold.
Hopefully the remake is not just cosmetic, but will also include recipes that don't require too many exotic ingredients or exotic taste.
Scott on February 27, 2008 at 10:32 AM
FYI, the '/' is a forward slash or Virgule, not a backslash (which is '\'). See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_%28punctuation%29]
Either way it is a rather unorthodox, incorrect, and overly trendy use of the character for such a staid, classy magazine. Interestingly, virgule in French means "comma"; I doubt the designers would think a comma as "playful" as the slash.
Chris Olson on February 27, 2008 at 11:29 AM
I have dropped magazines before when they adopted ADD-oriented styles. Bon Appetit, or should I say, bon appetit, is getting close. It is possible to get used to changes, but that does not mean that one should make the effort. Try Intermezzo -- if you liked the old Bon Appetit, you will probably like Intermezzo.
Paul on February 27, 2008 at 01:00 PM
I love it, I always thought Gourmet and Bon Appetit, recipes aside, seemed a little stuffy. I like a loose style, and it appeals to me, which might be what they were going for. i agree with LadyNaava, that the magazine had began to stray a little into the realm of difficult to find ingredients and hopefully this will rope them back. I don't mind a few, but the book was rife with them for a while.
Eric H on February 27, 2008 at 05:03 PM
Shrink it down 50%, add a "5 minutes to dinner with Velveeta" section and it'll fit quite nicely next to the National Enquirer, Star and"How to Lose 10 Inches in 10 Days" pamphlets.
M. Fleming on February 27, 2008 at 07:19 PM
I am not a fan of the "new look". I agree with the previous comment: the old version of the magazine was classy and looked like a magazine for the serious cook.
Not so with the new look, it suffers from, well, just being sheer ugly. And no, I won't end my subscription, but boy, do I wish they would take back some of the old look.
This is a case of: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Jennifer on February 28, 2008 at 11:49 AM
As a graphic designer in my former life, I love the new look - I think it's a refreshing take on an old standard. However, I love old standards, too. Bon Appetit is a classic, so I'm not sure it needed to be revised. I'm a bit torn.
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