Design Your Life
April 3rd, 2007 Posted by V
Design Your Life is the motto of the new lifestyle magazine Blueprint, brought to you by the fine folks at Martha Stewart’s empire. The motto rings true. I am obviously the portrait of the key demographic, because I’ve never come across a magazine that so exactly pinpoints my lifestyle tastes.
I was very curious to see how Blueprint would hold up in comparison to the much heralded Domino Magazine. Had the wost possible scenario occured? Had Martha created the Domino killer? I was pleasantly surprised to discover that while they share definite similarities, most notably the same target demographic, they provided a nice complement to one another. While Domino mostly features interior design with a few splashes of fashion and lifestyle, Blueprint paints itself as the younger, hipper, urban Martha Stewart Living. Create a modern dinner party for your friends, peruse the essential spring fashion must-haves for the urban girl, and organize and clean your closets like a mini-Martha.
I cannot possibly end this post without giving a nod to the impeccable design of Blueprint. It’s feminine, while remaining modern and clean. A lot of thought was obviously put into the inital legwork by the Art Department and it shows. Many magazines tend to fall back into using as few typefaces as possible and only the simplest of grid layouts. Blueprint isn’t afraid to experiment, and somehow it still comes out looking fresh and refined.
Blueprint definitely will not be pushing Domino off the shelves anytime soon. I suspect the sisters are sitting side by side atop quite a few Noguchi coffee tables as we speak. Being domesticated has never been so hip and liberating.
Tagged: blueprint, blueprint magazine, dinner parties, fashion, girls, home decor, interior design, lifestyle, mag.nificent, magazines, martha stewart
4 Comments Add your own
1. G | April 3rd, 2007 at 9:42 pm
good job! i thought it was a decent mag too, hope it sticks around…
2. Chris Lee | April 4th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
If I was a magazine that was ready to settle down, I would date this magazine and then marry it.
3. LondonLee | April 11th, 2007 at 9:45 am
While it’s obviously a beautiful magazine, I find it a little tooperfect. Like all Martha Stewart’s magazines, gorgeous but a little sterile in it’s perfection.
I still prefer Domino’s more messy approach, it has more life.
4. V | April 11th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
LondonLee:
Actually taking a second look through (btw I HIGHLY recommend the spice rub recipe) I definitely agree with you. However, I think Blueprint is less sterile than Martha Stewart Living (maybe its the use of quite a few unique typefaces?).
Everything Martha does is so gridded off and sticks to an almost severe format, never varying even in the slightest. I’ve actually seen photos of her home around and everything in her life seems to be organized in this rigid manner as well……I’m pretty sure Martha must have OCD.
I also love the variety in Domino…it seems to hit its target market well, but also understands that within a demographic there is still alot of varying tastes. No two featured homes or products are ever exactly similar…I feel this is really where Martha’s publications show their rigidity at its worst.
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