Rewind on a Redesign
Friday September 13, 2013 | Filed under:
One of the things I love about working in magazines is that when you work really hard on something and are unabashedly proud of it, you have a finished product you can actually look at and read through. That’s how I feel about the redesigned Wearables® sitting on my desk right now. It takes a lot for me to offer such naked praise for something I helped create, so believe me when I say I really think our September issue looks fantastic.
Not that it was easy. It took months of hard work between myself and our very talented art team: Art Director Hillary Haught, Senior Editorial Designer Glen J. Karpowich and Editorial Photographer Mark Pricskett. They had the jump on me months before our first meeting when they started posting potential fonts on the corkboard in their back office.
Some things we knew from the beginning. We wanted a bold, yet elegant, look that captured the best qualities of today’s leading fashion magazines. We wanted to grab the reader’s attention with the way we presented industry products. And we wanted to consolidate the information in the magazine into a few tightly focused sections.
I look at Wearables as a hybrid: part fashion, part business. We dig into the leading runway trends because they have a significant influence on what our readers’ clients want as well as the products that suppliers bring to market. We want our readers to be ahead of the curve on these trends. That emphasis allows us to take a creative approach in presenting apparel, just like some of the leading style magazines you see on newsstands. (Yes, that was me at the Neshaminy Barnes & Noble grabbing Details, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour and more.)
Throughout the redesign process, it was enjoyable to see the look of the magazine take shape. I spent many afternoons at Glen’s desk trading design ideas, revising mock layouts, debating one decision versus another. Sometimes there were unexpected hurdles. For example, the font we initially chose – Bauer Bodoni – looked great when we mocked it up in our “Trends” section. But later on we discovered that in articles with a lot of copy it was hard to read because of its thin design. That sent us back to the drawing board.
Of course, a new look doesn’t mean much unless it’s tied to meaningful content. That’s partly why we chose to debut it in September, so it can be used in our Style Issue, which always features a stunning photo shoot for our Fall Fashion Preview. Mark always does a great job with it, and we decided to take it to another level this year with colored backgrounds, set props and edgy styling. Each photo shoot always is an adventure; you go in with a plan for the outfits, but then inspiration strikes and you end up with something completely different (and far better) than what you originally planned. We had a Carhartt shirt the model was going to wear to showcase the plaid trend. Midway through, our stylist Conrad Booker thought it would look better backward. I thought he was crazy at first, but it ended up looking fantastic. That outfit became our cover.
I’d like to think a redesign is like a relationship: It’s easy to fall in love with it, then take it for granted once you get used to it. Our goal with Wearables is to avoid falling into that trap. We want to keep pushing the boundaries of what we can do with design – and I know our editorial design team is eager to keep unveiling new tricks. In addition, we want to keep providing what our readers want: spotlights of the latest trends, effective ways to improve their businesses and in-depth information to keep them ahead of the curve. Keep looking for our “Screen-Printing Success” section, too, which features all the latest decoration trends, techniques and products. Decoration is the differentiator in our industry, and the ones who do it well really stand out.
Everyone I’ve talked to really likes the new design, which is comforting to know. I hope you will like it too. Visit www.wearablesmag.com to see the redesign issue, and don’t hesitate to tell me what you think by e-mailing me at cmittica@asicentral.com.
– C.J. Mittica, Wearables editor