apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

it's kind of funny you bringing this up because just last night i was again going through the issue you have pictured above and i felt dissatisfied, like something was missing and i kept wanting something more. i love getting this mag, and yes i, too, love the ads, but what i have always loved about dwell was that it was above and beyond just advertsing. now it seems less so. are they getting lazy? or maybe they just aren't touching on topics that interest me so much. curious to hear what other people think.

I have always found Dwell's editorial voice snotty, as if having a modern sensibility in style makes one morally superior. I like a clean and modern look, so I appreciate the design in Dwell (though it can be a bit cold), but I cancelled my subscription long ago.

Its gotten boring: Same old same 'ol every other month. Its not even a good resource guide the way Metropolis, Met home or even Elle Decor remain (even if they've also lost some relevance).

i read this at land + living a while ago and searched for it to offer it up here... it seems that people are still very recently posting responses about dwell. the first time i read all of the comments, i sent an email to andrew wagner, one of the editors of the magazine, and he wrote me back quickly and insightfully, and that alone encouraged me to keep supporting the magazine. anyways, i hope this link works:

http://landliving.com/articles/0000000570.aspx#addcomments

I was extremely disappointed with this issue. I recently bought an older house and have been challenged to make the inside feel modern--so I hoped I'd find some ideas here. No such luck. The main stories elaborated on the history of the homes but did not really illuminate the process of transformation. Large portraits of children and precious detail photos --while attractive, seemed to be more about lifestyle and attitude and less about inspiring and informing the reader with depictions of interesting design innovations.

well said, MissIt. you're right. it's more about lifestyle, and as much as many of us want to keep looking at some of those beautiful minimal spaces, it does get a bit repetitive. like you're either part of their modern club or you're not. maybe because there are so so many resources out there for "things modern", etc. they are losing their competitive edge.

Whew, And I thought I was the only one. About a year or two ago I wasn't going to renew...how many times can you look at a square box stuffed with eames / corbu furniture and call it "unique".

Unfortunately, I haven't found a replacement to sate my "cool" fix.

Thank heavens Fine Homebuilding hasn't changed too much.

I agree... for me, the begining of the end was last year when I attended a seminar hosted by the editor of Dwell. She was really snide and that was exactly the opposite of what I expected the person at the helm of the magazine to be.... Since then it has gone from being a really great magazine about everyday people living in "the modern world". To a collection of advertisements and glossy photos of sort of run of the middle UBER expensive modern homes...... who needs that?
Does anyone remember the issue where they said they were going to start publishing the price of the featured items? What happened to that?
Remember the Xmass issue last year when the editors each made a Xmass list, but then they didn't show pics of the items because it was just ASSUMED that anyone in THE KNOW would already be familiar with them.
I really liked the TV show when it came out, but it seems like they only shot 8 episodes and reran them forever....
I also started writing emails to the editor with ideas for assessible articles. Why not do something about the Noguchi Museum? How about an article about the people who do the product design for Ikea?? I'd love to know who they are...... no answer.
Oh, Dwell.... I spend my money on Living Etc now... which actually is 3 times more expensive.

Dwell magazine is asking us to "dwell" on fantasy with every new issue. I cancelled the Dwell subscription and subscribed for The economist and
Guardian Unlimited.

Time to move on than dwelling on Dwell

Journal

I find Dwell incredibly boring, and I'll read the back of a cereal box for entertainment. Love the idea, but I find most of the homes they showcase to be nice, but not mind-boggling. In my opinion, the magazine lacks insight and process. I'd love to see some the articles Kristian proposed.

I actually started a post last night that I didn't continue because it felt very petty, but it was in reference to the founder/editor of the mag and the intro to the TV show...I can't stand her tone when she describes how she "found a run down shack" and turned it into this mod wonder (la, la, la) - her tone really sets me off, and I find that it permeates the magazine as well - pseudo-superior and pretentious.
-Rant over

I still like Dwell, but I must say I also get a kick out of the home articles in Budget Living. Their places are at least affordable, and even though they sometimes lean heavily on Ikea, I find them individual and inspiring.

And for the person who is now addicted to Living Etc.--do you get it off newstands?

And I thought I was the only one. Dwell's pretentious tone, and lack of humor or whimsy just made me want to throw the magazine away, sometimes before I even finished reading the whole thing. The "we special few" mind-set comes across on the TV show as well, but considering the EIC has some grooming problems (can't she get her brows done?), how elite are they , really?

You can get Living ETC at your larger B&N or Hudson News - newstand is $7.75, the subscription on Amzon is an outrageous $11.30 an issue!!!!

I luuuuve design, but lately their issues have homes that doesn't seem livable let alone lived in. Everything is so stark which is great in concept but is lacking in personality. I've stopped my subscription still with a love for what the magazine was. My husband pointed it out to me "How are you unique when you're doing the same ol' thing?" He was really put off by the editor's children's room. Their beds were incubators, more to keep them in their place than to sleep. The lack of emotion in daily living gets to me. I now read Readymade magazine, even though it's going through a change, because it has the quirkiness of design that Dwell forgot about.

I am a charter subscriber, and have every issue. But, I also agree that it has lost much of what I came to love about it. Just because I have a middle class income doesn't mean I don't have taste, or want to live in the current century. While they always catered somewhat to the higher end of the design spectrum, they have lost sight of the regular person that has chosen to live in the "Modern World".

The TV show was nice (all five or six episodes), however the intro was a bit condescending. And, some of what they covered was dumbed down quite a bit. The endless repeating of the episodes has gotten very old.

I may be letting it go, when my subscription comes up for renewal.

after debating for 5 minutes I picked up this issue of Dwell instead of a wedding magazine (just engaged) and I was sooo disappointed, it was very lackluster :(
My absolute FAVORITE home magazine is DOMINO, which is exactly my style, blends of old and new, luxe and bargain(well they're not as bargainy as I am). I agree that Living Etc. is enjoyable too as well as Budget Living.
I hope Dwell picks it up - or I may not.

In the past I would read Dwell, front to back, the moment it landed in my hands. The houses and interiors were exciting. But for the last year or so the magazine has loss it's relevance. Several recent issues of Dwell are just sits on my coffee table, justed thumbed thru.

plate of shrimp! i just canceled my subscription to dwell because i no longer feel they were targeting me.
what made me first pick it up were all the amazing, mostly american, modern, cutom homes they featured under $200K. plus articles about green living and practical info on how houses are built these days. fortunately i saved all the old issues. then, they went on to support the pre-fab thing, which i applaud, but don't know if that will be for me when i can build a house. now they seem to feature architects in great, global locals that of course can make their home awesome because, as architects, they have the inside scoop. this information doesn't help me with my own dream home because i can't ever imagine being beyond a modest budget.
i used to admire dwell for innovation and creativity (the former american focus was also practical for me because i'm sure i won't be able to afford shipping cool supplies from europe). maybe some other publication will take their place.

It's all about consumption. SO BORING!

I use to like dwell, but I do not buy it. I see it on the shelves as i am waiting in line at the grocery store, but i never buy it. i thumb through i, but it seems to be a magazine now for uber rich or cool. The homes are so ultra stylized that they do not look like anyone lives there. I absolutely love Living etc. I go looking for it every single month around the 14th of the month. While the homes are usually homes of some designer or architect, these people are ususually not super rich and they have creative solutions to relax modern living. (i sound like an ad for them) I also like Domino, and more than happy to admit. I hate to say it but I have stopped buying Elle decor and Met Home too. I find the british mags are far more real.

I "read" Dwell every month. At the newstand. It takes about 5 minutes. I let my subscription lapse 3 years ago... RIP Dwell. You are about as pertinent to me and my life as Wallpaper, Surface and Architectural Digest.

Do you think they (Dwell) will pay attention to all this criticism? I've read through the comments posted here and they are all generally consistent: no longer innovative, for the uber rich, not for people who want to bring more of the modern into their own environments without having to spend a fortune on luxury items, too much focus on an elitist design lifestyle, etc.

I actually sent an email to Dwell and gave them a heads up about this blog, hoping they will listen and respond to this readership.

Hello all...thanks for all of your thoughts. Just wanted to let you all know that we are definitely listening. I've been doing some posting about this topic over at Land + Living (www.landliving.com) if you care to check out that discussion as well. Again, thanks to all of you for taking the time to write and rest assured, all of your comments are always taken into consideration.

I think I've purchased dwell once, and have never found it of particularly high quality in any aspect, however in the past, I appreciated its inclusion of American designers, something I think is missing in any one magazine (a hard core, maybe exclusive, American designer focus). Over time dwell has ceased to be visually stimulating and in previous years it hasn't even been nice to touch.

My husband is a newsagent, so I go through most of the French, Italian, English, American, some Spanish, some German, a couple of Australian mags a month and over the years, I've seen a noticeable 'decline' that's certaily not unique to dwell (MetHome, Case da Abitare, World of Interiors, etc.). I think maybe only the French and English mags have held up over time.

I don't think it's easy to do a 'modern design' magazine made up of "affordable" products. LivingEtc. (UK) considers itself one of those types of magazines, and while it may not get into high-end, its high enough so that your average UK person probably wouldn't find it affordable living. But dwell is a far cry from being for the "rich" and definitely not "super rich".

At the end of the day, constant access to personalized information (design or whatever) is putting a huge damper on the publishing industry (instead of video killing the radio star, it's the internet killing the glossy star) and it really is hard work to keep up a magazine, but that's what a good Editorial Director is there for. And it helps if their editors aren't being jackasses and shoving people around at trade fairs, too...

http://www.threelayercake.com/content/view/125/28/

Hey Andrew. Thanks for responding. I clicked over to the thread you mentioned. http://www.landliving.com/articles/0000000570.aspx#addcomments Good for you for responding! I love see a good, healthy debate. And it's very cool to see the magazine's acknowledgement of some readers' dissatisfaction. Look, I realize Dwell is a business venture. And appealing to your most desirable target demo is key to securing the ad dollars. But it seems that in your pursuit of the highly-coveted, big-spending "yurban" crowd, you've disenfranchised your initial loyal following of modern design enthusiasts. Dwell feels like it's become pure aspirational design porn advertorial. Good for you guys if that's what you want. But it leaves the magazine's tone feeling overly cool and inaccessible. I was excited a year ago when a cover tagline shouted something to the effect "Stylish, Affordable Options to IKEA". I grabbed the issue and found only a single-page piece with paragraph-long blurbs on BoConcept, EQ3, etc. One page. One page in 12 months that addresses the more cost-conscious segment of your audience. Though not overtly elitist, the editorial slant does seem to be (financially) exclusionary. So, Dwell, what's it gonna be? Are you going to fully embrace this aspirational route? Or are you going to throw your disenfranchised readers a bone? They days of the Dwell's "Fruitbowl Manifesto" may be long gone; but that doesn't mean that your take on modern design can't be democratized again...

Hey there...thanks for reading the comments Enrique and for taking the time to respond. It's difficult to address all your concerns (and everyone else's) on these boards but I wanted to make one thing clear, the Fruit Bowl Manifesto is far from long gone! It remains our guiding light and something that we are continually inspired by. To this day I think it is one of the most important modern day writings on architecture and design. And, just a little plug for Karrie Jacobs who penned that piece, you all should keep an eye out for her new book that should be coming out soon. I'm not completely sure of the title but it is something like "In Search of the Perfect $100,000.00 House." I'm sure it will be fantastic.

Anyhow, as our audience has grown, we have many different kinds of readers asking for many different things and we are contantly trying to find a balance amongst all of these. One thing that we've strived to maintain is an attention to good, inovative design regardless of budget (Sometimes the budgets on these projects are very small and sometimes very large and very often, regardless, the home-owners don't want to disclose the amount of $$$ spent. Therefore, some of these projects we show are actually quite budget minded though they may not look it.)

I think all of you (Enrique, especially you) will find some things that will really get you excited in some future issues. In April (The Profile Issue) we've got a great piece about Montana and Korea based architect Byoung Cho who takes all of the farm buildings surrounding Bozeman, Montana as his inspiration and then in May (Think Small Issue) we have an awesome little house (800 square feet minus studio space) in Seattle designed and built entirely by 35 year old David Sarti with the help of his friends for under $250,000 including land cost. I think you'll find his thriftiness and his ability to make his resources work for him as best they can very inspiring. I know I did.

Anyhow, I guess the end point here is that as we grow, inevitably some things are going to speak louder to some people and will not resonate as strongly with others. We'd like to please everyone but of course, that is a no-win situation. We hope that there is something for everyone in every issue or if one issue doesn't work for you that the next one will.

There is one last point I want to make; yes, Dwell is a business venture but our biggest partner in the business is our readers. As completely corn-ball and canned as that sounds, its true...

Andrew, thanks for taking the time to attach a human face/voice to Dwell. I felt the need to qualify my slightly snarky jabs above because years ago, I felt like I was Dwell's target. (Demographically, I probably still am.) Despite my feeling that the magazine no longer speaks to me, I'm look forward to seeing the pieces you referenced in the upcoming issues in hopes of finding common ground again... Sorry I'll miss tonight's event in San Rafael with Laura Deam. (I didn't know about it; and just returned from a trip to the Bay Area last night.) It would have been cool to discuss these issues with her in person.

from a subscriber..eagerly looking forward to the next issue(S)

I have, very profitably, applied the stream of ideas offered as practical gambits for my wacky creative staff.

Andrew, Dwell sucks (just ask Allison, wink wink, nudge nudge).

Hi, Karrie Jacobs here. Once upon a time, I was the editor of Dwell and I'm the author of the Fruit Bowl Manifesto. As Andrew Wagner mentioned above, I've got a book coming out. The correct title is "The Perfect $100,000 House." It's published by Viking and it will be in stores somewhere between the 17th and the 21st of August. Fans of the Fruit Bowl Manifesto may enjoy it.

Also, I'm putting up a website this week (I think) where you'll be able to read a snippet of the book.

www.karriejacobs.com