A number of weeks ago we finally opened Martha's new Blueprint magazine and read it from cover to cover (the second issue is out very soon). What we found was a return to the grand old days of magazines (before shopping overcame the land), when scrupulous attention was paid to detail and a lifestyle was transmitted within the pages that amounted to something you could really care about.
On one of the first pages we were greeted with a full photo layout, introducing us to Blueprint's editorial team. There we rediscovered the perfectly coiffed and pulled together Martha vision chanelled down into the bodies of a young group of almost entirely female editors. They all seemed beautiful, intelligent and accomplished... AND willing to invite us into their club...
On closer inspection, we discovered that the Blueprint club was refreshingly NOT watered down and imbued with male corporate energy (sure, MSLO is a big corporation by now, but it's still a far cry from behemoth's like Conde Nast and Time Inc). These first pages carried the feeling of one woman's originating vision as opposed to vision by focus group. And unlike other magazines in which you feel that the editor is simply a rubber stamp for the big corporate publishing machinery behind her or him, you get the feeling that Blueprint really is run by this editorial group (and Martha, of course).
The genius of Martha is that she realizes that the most powerful thing any media can do is communicate humanity and style, not simply products. Products and shopping are merely the offshoot of an approach to life. Blueprint communicates an approach to life and does it very, very well. Compared to the other youthful shelter magazines, we felt Blueprint had no competition in the lifestyle category. Blueprint is a real magazine achievement.
But we also felt very strongly that the Blueprint lifestyle was not our own.
We don't live in a perfectly coiffed and strictly defined environment. We don't live in a house with a fence, watering cans and multiple dogs. We're not all heterosexual, and we didn't all go to the same schools.
Our lifestyle is modern and urban.
Our lifestyle resembles skateboarding more than it does ice skating. It can be messy and it can be beautiful.
Our lifestyle puts space at a premium (and that includes not taking up too much of other people's space).
Our lifestyle is more modest, but no less proud. It involves breaking out our own small victories and adapting to the vagaries of life in the city at the same time.
Our lifestyle is about inclusion, discovery and experimentation with all styles.
Our lifestyle is about respecting others and not believing that we have all the answers.
Flipping through the lovely world of Blueprint really got us thinking about how different we were.
It also got us thinking about how AT is growing and how we are slowly defining our own lifestyle/vision daily, bit by bit. And despite Blueprint's success in the world of media (it's a really good magazine), we felt confident that what we are all doing together,blogging and defining our modern, urban, something-or-other lifestyle had the face of the future all over it.
This could be so much more than a magazine.
it's life, as we know it
Thanks, Maxwell, that's thought-provoking
thank you for writing this piece maxwell, sometimes by exposing ourselves to many different things it helps define who we are. we take ideas and inspiration and use it to achive our goals or use it to guide ourselves in another direction.
I like blueprint magazine, and while i don't live in that blueprint world, it sure is a fun and informative place to visit.
Maxwell - great breakdown of the mag and AT
the attention paid to detail in Blueprint astonished me. I got the 2nd issue last night in the mail. Y'all are mentioned in the "Top 100 Links to Bookmark" page.
I noticed a while ago that Martha Stewart Living magazine, despite the fact that people like to think of it as pretentious, mainly has articles about how to DO things, or MAKE things. WHen it is about buying it's usually about buying at flea markets. Kind of odd (and annoying) how much other mags are all about buying stuff.
Does anyone know what day this magazine hits the stands?
NICE JOB!!!!
*applause*
This should be (or be incorporated in) the Apartment Therapy Manifesto.
(There's no manifesto? Come now! Every design movement has a manifesto!)
Thanks Maxwell, well said.
I haven't been able to find Blueprint anywhere I've looked in DC, including the rare places that I find LivingEtc and Elle Decoration-UK.
But, but, he mentioned female and woman!
Isn't that not permitted here?
Seriously though, a well thought out and written piece on what AT stands for. I can't speak for the Blueprint piece (though I understand it) because I have not even so much as flicked through it.
I agree with much of what Maxwell has written and everyone's comments. I agree that shopping one's way into style is not only uninventive, but a fairly soulless approach to the search for one's identity or a home's identity.
However, I wish that Maxwell and others could take this argument a little bit further...am I the only person who finds comments like "nice job" and "applause" the blog equivalent to the quick and easy approach to decorating? And by the same token, isn't there something worthwhile in elaborating upon our style is "modern and urban" or "inclusion, discovery, and experimentation"?
While life isn't and shouldn't be about shopping, nor should it be about short and cute answers or blog posts-- I find so often this web site, and others like it, are so quick to post images with flippant little remarks, often positive. What was refreshing about Maxwell's post is that he really got thinking about a particular product (Blueprint) and its social ramifications. I just wish there was more of this kind of discussion here and at large.
Yeah, Diana, but then a lot of people would cry.
Well, Diana, I went for *applause* because I was pleased to see an eloquent statement that defined some common ground related to the site's mission.
It's extremely well-documented in other threads (doubtless to the point of tedium) where I disagree with Maxwell's take on "simple living" or on buying always the best or on where those two concepts intersect. That particular horse is limping to the glue works.
On the other hand, I admire the hell out of him and his team, and the relatively small-seeming changes that the AT experience has made in my home have had a huge impact on its sense of peace and hominess.
Showing support was exactly what I wanted to accomplish -- far from being a "quick and easy response," it was something I considered for several hours before posting it.
I got the second issue of Blueprint and I didn't think it was as good as the first. No doubt that the focus panels came in and decided that what the audience really needs is more beauty categories and lists. Every magazine needs more lists, right? I can't be bothered to read: I need lists!!!! Lists of things to buy!
I actually did think that Blueprint was unique -- that is -- until I got my hands on a copy of The Nest, a magazine put out by the people at The Knot.com. I just saw it last Friday. It is the exact same magazine, except with slightly more "Dear Abby"-style relationship advice. I expect for this category of magazine to have at least 3 more competitors by spring next year.
For my money - I still think Ready Made is a fun magazine. Just like I thought CHOW was a really great food mag. But ah, well. RIP CHOW.
When first started flipping through the pages of Blueprint I didn't much like it. I didn't care for the combination of fashion and design editorial. Call me a purest - but I like to keep those worlds separate, even though I realize they go hand-in-hand and one influences the other. When I picked Blueprint up again and it began to grow on me. There were some good how-to's and some 'pretty pictures' which I usually find inspiring. But what I take from these photographs of beautiful unattainable rooms in any magazine, is how I can modify the bits I do like and make them work for me and my budget. Or how I can reinvent some idea I gleaned from the pages. I rarely buy something I see in a magazine, but I do get inspired by what I see in those pages and seek it out in it's less expensive version, at flea markets, or my local hardware store for DIY project. Maybe because I work in advertising and know buying is what it's all about (let's face it, advertising dollars are these pubs' bread and butter), I somehow manage to get past all the encouragement and coaxing to shop and just take what I need from all those pretty pages. And as noted, very observant commentary and very well said, Maxwell!!
I actually just came from a magazine store and this AT entry reminded me to look for Blueprint there. Alas, it must be sold out. There was an architecture magazine named Blueprint (I though it was a big no-no in the world of publishing to have the same title?)
I ended up getting ELLE Decoration UK, Real Simple, and ReadyMade (they have a nifty piece about restoring an Airstream trailer, a daydream of mine). LivingEtc. didn't grab me after the "flip test", so I passed on it.
But AT always passes the "flip test". We may be urban and lacking lawns, but I like to think we're all neighbors meeting at the digital fence in AT's yard, trading tips and giving encouragement. Okay that sounded totally hokey but you get my meaning. No other magazine or website has been as helpful in transforming my home as AT.
I think it's also instructive when considering these kinds of issues to consider how "same" you are too because it always points out where you can tweak your own vision of the world rather than to just see the differences...which is perhaps what you did before writing. It's like that Buddhist doctrine (or whatever) that says you hate in others what you hate in yourself (I'm quite obviously paraphrasing). I think that on the rare occasion when I feel a little annoyed at AT (believe me, it's obviously very rare because i'm here almost daily), it's because of the feeling that there is a perfect little life I should lead...or products I need (that I don't really need). Again, though, this is probably the things (perfectionism, materialism) that I hate in myself! :)
As much as I love Martha and am hoping for good things from Blueprint, I found that meet the editors spread very discouraging for one simple thing - they were all white. And I don't just mean light skinned, I mean white! I absolutely do not believe for a minute that in NYC not one design savvy person of color could be found for this group. It's really disappointing, and I guess it means that I too am not Blueprint.
szig, i too had the same reaction to the first issue of blueprint. the homogeneity of the picture of the editorial staff really turned me (a black female) off to the rest of the magazine.
I have lived in apartments for over 30 years (the kind where you can't paint anything, remove any fixture or nail anything heavier than a picture hanger to the walls). Each year I spent approximately $100 on magazines I hoped would provide inspiration for decorating and making good use of my space. Unfortunately, none were really geared toward rental apartment living and $3,000 later I had little or nothing to show for the expense. Then I discovered AT and AT (the book).
Thanks to AT(the book) for helping me to discover why I didn't love my apartment, why it didn't work for me and what to do about it and to AT for all the creative suggestions for solving small space problems and great ideas for future purchases. It has truly been a life changing experience..one I thought might never come after 30 years of waiting for someone to care about apartment living. It is definitely more than a magazine. Definitely!
The problem i have with blueprint is the problem with MOST commercial magazines that deal with style only--read three in a row and you get this mild psychological brainwashing (i used to work in a newsstand and would experience it almost every day) -- EVERYTHING becomes simply style/lifestyle and not heart, and you begin to view the world around you in an incredibly superficial way...at least for the next few hours. Then it wears off.
but i digress. Blueprint and domino seem virtually interchangeable, all gloss and purchase and very few really good ideas. I'm cancelling my domino subscription. That and so many of the contact info/websites they cite don't actually exist.
blueprint is pretty but terribly, terribly empty. They might be smart women but they're living in a state of utter disconnect.
Pixie, did you try The Newsroom? It's on Connecticut at around S Street.
Jean,
Thanks. I was just in the Newsroom a couple of nights ago and didn't see it there. Have you? I am going to try the Barnes and Noble in Georgetown. I hate shopping at megacorp-bookstores, but that and the B. Dalton in Union Station are the only places I can get my LivingEtc and Elle Decoration-UK fixes. The B&N in Georgetown has lots and lots of shelter mags that no one else has, so maybe they have Blueprint.
if you read blueprint it's packed with ideas and projects. domino is product placement and shopping, because it's a shopping magazine.
Szig & Shannon - I had the same reaction, and I'm white. I also couldn't help notice there was only one man on staff. Not very diverse, indeed.
Issue #2 was in my box today. I'm sure AT can appreciate this quote on page 23: "Don't try to make a place feel 'finished.' Plenty of things will come along over time to ill in the blanks. Instead, buy less and buy better..." - Larry Schaffer, owner okstore.la
Blueprint isn't my style really, but it is still interesting. It's a bit weird to see a sweet potato on the same page with articles on a hearty sewing machine and why not to give your zip code to store clerks...
I dig Domino. It brings in a lot of project how-to's and inspiring photos/layouts. There was an issue last year that labeled a wire, exotic mirror as $999. It was (and is) in fact available at Spiegel.com for $99, currently on sale for $79. Huge type-o in my opinion, but otherwise, I dig it.
As I get older, I find that almost no magazines address me as an audience. Part of it is that I've gracefully grown out of a definable and desirable demographic. (I'm now part of a disenfranchised set that is no longer recognized or desired by advertisers.) But the other part is that the medium as a whole feels "dead" to me. Because it lacks the immediacy of other mediums (due probably to long publishing lead times), it feels like I'm getting dated or obsolete content. It's almost as if the actual "street date" of a magazine's current issue signals the expiration date of its content, which elicts in me this reaction: "Been there, done that, read the book, saw the movie, bought the Happy Meal--two months ago."
A former magazine junkie, I once had a voracious appetite for fresh new information and imagery; but have recently found myself getting annoyed with almost all of the magazines I peruse. Instead of finding engaging content, I feel absolutely inundated by the marketing-machined soft and hard-sells passed off as editorial content. Because of this, more often than not, I feel a disconnect with the publication.
I sit here with literally 5 months of unread monthly and weekly periodicals. I currently subscribe to about 15+ magazines (not including trade publications); but now only skim through the few consumer titles containing content that intersects peripherally with my industry... This year, I'm letting all of my subcriptions lapse (even the trade pubs). By November, I hope to be 75% periodical-free (the remaining 25% lapse next spring). I have enough issues to deal with in my life, and don't need the added burden of having more mailed to my doorstep.
As this relates to the development of an "AT lifestyle"... I think Maxwell has noted several aspects that characterize the AT community, but thankfully hasn't fully defined or pigeonholed "the lifestyle." (Can you really do that with the multitude of voices here?) I guess what's present in blogs like AT is exactly what's lacking in traditional periodicals: a shared sense of community, a sense of ownership or vested interest in the content, and an interactive element that encourages discourse and constantly defines/redefines the product. AT, I love you, you sexy beast. (Even when you bug the shit out of me.) But I especially love that you are always evolving and in a constant state of flux.
I love getting my glossy home décor magazine in the mail each month, but reading it is sort of like traveling alone. When you see something stunning and beautiful, theres no one to turn to and say, Isnt that an absolutely gorgeous sunset?
With AT, theres a community of friends who get why I love or not love a certain couch or wall color and are even willing to discuss and debate it. Theres something new to talk about and look at all the time, almost in real time. No print magazine offers that type of experience.
I loved the first issue of Blueprint, and I don't have the problem that a lot of people seem to have with magazines (ie, that it's not an interactive experience). I actually enjoy the fact that it's your own little experience, but I seem to be in the minority. Unfortunately, I am a magazine junkie, although I recognize that am killing a ton of trees and I am subjecting myself to much advertising.
I do have to say that I find the trend of "Look! Here are our editors! Aren't they the cool-girl clique?" incredibly annoying (especially when a lot of the time, I don't even find them to be cool, and I don't care what they look like). However, I can see how it's annoying is a whole different way when you look at the self-congratulatory editor pics and realize that no one is non-white.
I work with a handful of MSLO refugees, and from the war stories they tell, all of the megalomaniac stories are true. Comments include that the recent tele-play was far underplayed.
While I admire her business sense, I do not admire her as a person....she's a viper in WASPs clothing.
Watch you back girls...this chick has fangs, and her bite is far worse than her bark.
It was so funny for me to read this today, I was just looking at the new Blueprint last night thinking to myself that I'm not the target audience for this magazine. I love the crafty parts but then am taken aback by the section on shoes you can buy for $500. It's a beautiful magazine though, and I do love the font they use for the title and throughout.
Contennta,
I'm sure most CEOs and media moguls are not lovely people, but I do think there is a higher bar for female CEOs. Rupert Murdoch seems like a huge jerk who has alienated his family, but while I hear people criticize his politics, people don't discuss his personality.
It just bugs me. Whether you like Hilary Clinton or not, her ability to be nuturing is always discussed, while the paternal factor of someone like Dick "Cuddles" Cheney is never talked about.
Obviously, I'm not saying being a horrible person is okay--just that it seems to be more of a concern when a woman is a horrible person.
Thanks Maxwell! And Gekko, I so agree... Makes me wonder, is it too late for a career change? :)
I haven't been able to find a copy here in Manhattan since I first read about Blueprint on AT. I've checked newsstands, magazine stores, Barnes & Noble, seemingly ever bookstore etc. on the upper West Side and Morningside Heights. Blueprint, where are you?
Altho, hearing about the smug all-white editorial staff (*again*) is a turnoff.
Kinda monochromatic pallette for a design magazine, no?
http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel3400046&site=blueprint
Manuchao, having just read _Pledged_ last night (an investigative reporter's undercover journey through sororities), I now think Blueprint is aimed squarely at the sorority-sister-three-years-out-of-college demographic. $500 shoes, entertaining ideas, craft projects... it's all there.
While I don't have Enrique's sense of what's au courant, I hit that same frustration with magazines a couple years ago. While I sneak a peak at whatever shelter magazines my mother subscribes to, I only buy magazines when abroad -- somehow being in a foreign language (or at least from a foreign perspective, thank you, Canada!) makes the predictable writing more bearable.
i think blueprint is great for inspiration, fun to read - exactly the same thing i think about AT....
neither are my lifestyle, but whoop de do
Martha Stewart and a few colleagues spoke recently at my school (RISD) about "developing a personal design vocabulary" - the talk was replete with slide shows from each speaker as well as a hearty q & a period. Never once was it suggested that you could buy good design sensibility nor style. Each speaker focused on broad applications of personal aesthetics as well as the difference attention to and alteration of details can make (in interiors especially).
Perhaps it's unrealistic to try to gauge someone's personality from such a short window of experience, but Martha didn't strike me as a witch or monster at all. Her colleagues seemed inspired, content, and grateful for their unique jobs (they were all RISD graduates). She did mention Blueprint, suggesting that college-aged folks were its target audience. It's disappointing that the magazine seems to be directed at young, rich, white kids, as that group is certainly not inclusive - my classmates come from diverse backgrounds, albeit not diverse enough for my taste.
I hope that someone from Blueprint will read these comments and integrate their suggestions into future issues.
I've never thought that "sorority girl" was anything more than a stereotype. Those organizations are made up of all sorts of women most of whom don't fit that expectation at all. I'm 11 years out of college and still don't spend $100 for shoes, let alone $500. Most people don't even know I'm a sorority girl. They wouldn't think it of me. You have to join one (the right one for you) to know what it's really about.
Blueprints images strike me as aimed squarely at monied young women who went to college to find husbands, probably will never work any sort of real job and will all set themselves on his/her family money as decorators and socialites of some sort.
Saw the Fall issue at B&N yesterday. While I liked the first issue, the second one feels more like a standard woman's service-y fashion magazine. The thing I liked about the first one was the nesting aspect and now its all about makeup and fashion. I agree it is all a bit too specific in its lifestyle market, but at least in the first issue it was more focused on the home.
I cancelled my Blueprint subscription after the first issue. Same like others here, it just didn't feel like it was speaking to me. For me, it was the $1,700 trench coat (but it's a classic!).
Marilyn (and other Morningsiders)-
Global Ink, on Broadway between 111 and 112, has the new issue.
I flipped through it but didn't buy. I can't put my finger on it, but the new issue just doesn't seem to have the same magic as the first.
Also, to all, I'm a long time lurker, but this seems a good time to say thanks. Posts and comments on AT have greatly improved my grad student standard of living (even if I occasionally have to drool over something I can't afford).
Yay AT!
And Diana, I went for "nice job" because I didn't feel I needed to add anything at all to Maxwell's post, it was so well done.
However, anyone who knows me here on AT, it's rare that I post two word statements. Usually, I nearly publish a book when I write. I've actually been working on saying less and reading more of the posts and comments.
:)
Holly