A lot of smoke about no relaunch
Magazines Schweizer Illustrierte does not need a new start. Just a slight graphic overhaul.
Magazines Schweizer Illustrierte does not need a new start. Just a slight graphic overhaul.
"Schweizer Illustrierte plans relaunch" was the headline of the Werbewoche newsmail on November 12. SI publishing director Urs Heller is not too happy about this. "Relaunch is too big a word for what will change at SI from November 29. We have simply given the magazine a graphic overhaul and streamlined it a little," he says. Neither the logo nor the 2001 concept nor the visual language will be changed, and no communicative appearance is planned.
"For a relaunch, you need an outside perspective. However, we did it purely in-house, with zero budget," emphasizes Heller. What has changed can be counted on one hand.
Firstly, a new basic font has been chosen, but the average reader is unlikely to notice this. Secondly, the somewhat bold and bulky graphic elements have been made more subtle. There are no new containers, only the party scene, previously at the front of the magazine with the people pages, has been moved to the back.
"Fresher, cleaner, more elegant, lighter and also a little more airy," is how Heller describes the SI after the overhaul. And he emphasizes once again that only the regular "homework" was done. Nothing more was necessary. "The SI's people concept has proven to be quite crisis-resistant."
The magazine is clearly over budget, to which the timely line extension (see box) has undoubtedly contributed. A look at the figures confirms this statement: SI's circulation has been fairly stable since 1999 at over 250,000 copies (currently 25,550 copies), readership seems to be leveling off at over a million (currently 1041,000 readers), and in terms of advertising volume, this year People magazine seems to be close to its 2002 record (6232 pages).
Well bedded on specialsTwo years ago, SI launched the four-times-yearly publication
Al dente cooking magazine, which is so popular that SI's sister publication in French-speaking Switzerland, Illustré, soon adapted the special.
The special editions Auto, Shopping and the multimedia magazine Login are also published twice a year. And once a year, the publisher publishes the specials Miss Switzerland and Jazz Montreux. "Nothing is changed in any of these magazines," says Heller. "They are very successful." (mk)
Markus Knöpfli
"Schweizer Illustrierte plans relaunch" was the headline of the Werbewoche newsmail on November 12. SI publishing director Urs Heller is not too happy about this. "Relaunch is too big a word for what will change at SI from November 29. We have simply given the magazine a graphic overhaul and streamlined it a little," he says. Neither the logo nor the 2001 concept nor the visual language will be changed, and no communicative appearance is planned.
"For a relaunch, you need an outside perspective. However, we did it purely in-house, with zero budget," emphasizes Heller. What has changed can be counted on one hand.
Firstly, a new basic font has been chosen, but the average reader is unlikely to notice this. Secondly, the somewhat bold and bulky graphic elements have been made more subtle. There are no new containers, only the party scene, previously at the front of the magazine with the people pages, has been moved to the back.
"Fresher, cleaner, more elegant, lighter and also a little more airy," is how Heller describes the SI after the overhaul. And he emphasizes once again that only the regular "homework" was done. Nothing more was necessary. "The SI's people concept has proven to be quite crisis-resistant."
The magazine is clearly over budget, to which the timely line extension (see box) has undoubtedly contributed. A look at the figures confirms this statement: SI's circulation has been fairly stable since 1999 at over 250,000 copies (currently 25,550 copies), readership seems to be leveling off at over a million (currently 1041,000 readers), and in terms of advertising volume, this year People magazine seems to be close to its 2002 record (6232 pages).
Well bedded on specialsTwo years ago, SI launched the four-times-yearly publication
Al dente cooking magazine, which is so popular that SI's sister publication in French-speaking Switzerland, Illustré, soon adapted the special.
The special editions Auto, Shopping and the multimedia magazine Login are also published twice a year. And once a year, the publisher publishes the specials Miss Switzerland and Jazz Montreux. "Nothing is changed in any of these magazines," says Heller. "They are very successful." (mk)
Markus Knöpfli
