Everyday Food's New Look

I read Martha's magazines for all kinds of reasons. There are the usual lures: great recipes, creative craft ideas, beautiful decorating projects, all kinds of information on the domestic arts and, of course, those momentary glimpses into Martha's homes and gardens. I also read them to study their aesthetic: layout, font, photography, page design and graphics. Each of Martha's magazines has won awards in design categories and these publications are truly leaders in the magazine publishing industry. When I got the July/August issue of Everyday Food recently, I was so pleasantly surprised by the beautiful new look of the magazine. It seemed cleaner, brighter, fresher and more vibrant, with added punch and vigor. I produced some tear sheets below to demonstrate:

The cover did not change much. It's still impacting and bright, but I still find it too cluttered. And I'm still not convinced we need three reminders on the cover that it is a Martha Stewart publication: "Great Food Fast From Martha Stewart", "A Martha Stewart Magazine", and Martha's smiling face on each issue, in a changing spectrum of pastel blouses. We get it: Martha has a hand in Everyday Food.

I love the gigantic font on this page in the electric blue tone. It's a perfect contrast to the rustic image and gives the page so much impact.

Another fantastic use of font and design, mixed with high-contrast photography to create a really powerful page.

This page is reminiscent of a page from Martha Stewart Living, with a streamlined mix of information and photography in a casual glossary format.

The July/August issue is filled with full-page photography, something that used to be a rarity in Everyday Food. Minimal dialogue on certain pages (or none at all) give the eye a needed visual pause and a chance to linger on the delicious-looking completed recipes, which is important to see for the home cook.