Sunday, May 28, 2006

I've finished reading Martha's new Blueprint magazine. I feel pretty meh about the whole thing. There are some great features - in this edition I liked the tai chi piece and the stationery finder. The magazine is organized well with features categorized room by room - from the top drawer to the bedroom to the worktable, etc... And, it pulls together some great standards from other magazines like its own version of the party guide that In Style runs monthly to a craft like you'd see in Living. There's a pull out sofa-buying guide that's part Consumer Reports, part Domino. They have achieved their stated goal of putting together a magazine that covers everything. In doing so, they've assembled a guide that will help you if you know nothing about anything. Because the spectrum is so broad, there is little depth. Still, the layout is gorgeous. Some of the ideas are great. This is like the buffet of magazines - nothing is fantastic or particularly unique, but there's something for everybody. And it takes a lot less time to read than paging through every single one of the magazines its modeled on.

4 comments:

Parisjasmal said...

Hi Jen,

I must agree on Blueprint. I was afraid to say I felt meh about it, but alas, I do. I had such high hopes for it, but I was just underwhelmed. That is not to say I will not buy it again, and they may tweak it to the point that it becomes awesome. I still have the very first issue of Lucky Magazine. It was awesome from the get go, but Lucky listens to it's readers and throughout it's young history it has become FABULOUS!

Have a good day!

Jennifer said...

Hi!

I had such very high hopes as well. Like you say, maybe they'll come around!

I agree - Lucky started out great and keeps getting better. Pay attention Blueprint! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

katiedid said...

Eh, I just don't ever feel crafty often enough to justify getting Blueprint. But you know, I did think this article online is really cool. Like, that's cute enough (with the right bangles and scarf) that I kind of want to make one.

Jennifer said...

Hi Katie! I really liked the scarf purses too. Unfortunately, I am highly skilled at starting craft projects. It's the finishing that I suck at!