Latina Magazine Editor Mimi Valdes has an eye for fashion

By SDH Under new Editrix Mimi Valdés Ryan, Latina Magazine is getting snazzier with a heavier focus on fashion. Editors before her never attended fashion week but Valdez ended that when she attended New York Fashion Week. Under Valdez the magazine also revamped its logo we guess to look fashionier, and the rate base was upped to 500,000. Wonder how Circulation Director Raymond Dryden will utilize some of these changes to bring in new business. With a stronger focus on fashion, this opens the door to more prospects. Advertisers are beginning to take notice, but they want to wait a few issues to see the response to the redesign (which began with the March issue). Latin Media Ventures president Cynthia Lewis said the September issue will probably introduce four or five more high-end fashion ads. Prior to joining Latin Media Ventures, she was the founding publisher of Hearst Magazines' Shop Etc. She also worked as publisher of Harper's Bazaar and Marie Claire.

Vogue undergoes light nip and tuck, unlike the models and fashion figures it covers

-ZOE S. CondeNast's iconic Vogue magazine is said to have gone under the knife but you wouldn't know by looking at the cover. Most if not all the changes happened inside the magazine. According to Women's Wear Daily, a new column and new font is what took place to refresh what is known as the bible. After all, there is still a buzz surrounding Elle's redesign and Harper's Bazaar created news out of its 140th anniversary issue in November. The Vogue spokesman said editors are always taking a "fresh look" at the magazine, but did not comment definitively as to whether more changes are on the way. One thing we know won't be getting touched on Vogue and thats the logo, because it would just be a huge America going into Iraq type mistake Memo Pad: News Flash.. Stern Surfaces... Bye to BG... [WWD]

80 of the old people that read "Reader's Digest" don't like the re-design

-YOSH With the dramatic re-design of a magazine that has been around waaaay before we were born, comes drama. Apparently about 80 or so long time RD subscribers wrote in to say that they are not happy about the re-design and blah blah blah. However what these 80 or so people fail to understand is that, they are out, and young people are in, which is what the all new RD is all about. That said, Reader's Digest president and group publisher Eva Dillon isn't worried about it. We love it Eva, and we're young people so it's working so far. Now regarding FishbowlNY's post on the subject, don't be fooled. Including audio of an interview and allowing visitors to test their body mass index with some simple HTML, does not make the RD site all “interactive”, at least not in today's web game. But kudos on the re-design anyway.

Reader's Digest goes under the knife, New Editor wants to redesign the redesign, rate base to be chopped

-MARTY Hey! Everyone is doing it to keep with the tone of things. Time magazine did it, Newsweek did it, Businessweek did. But now its Reader's Digest' turn. They pulled the curtains back on their newly nip and tucked print edition and website and it pains us to say this, but its a good step in the right direction . The new logo is current and soft. Gone is the outdated 1970s-esque logo which was a huge yawn fest! However the website still has some traces of the old RD. The subscription page still carries the old logo and magazine cover (note to RD's web design team: don't launch until you erase traces of the old days). The print make over according to Mediaweek included the usual, a bold new logo duh!, updated fonts and column names, as well as an ad on the back cover... WoW! they pulled out all the stops huh? New EIC Peggy Northrop, had no choice but to welcome the changes being that it was implemented before she arrived. But of course the woman wants to put her stamp on the redesign, can you blame her. She wants some credit too if the redesign is a hit. The magazine will also see it's rate base chopped down by 20% to 8 million. Peggy Northrop, who took over from Jackie Leo as editor last week, is planning to put her own stamp on the book as early as April. Northrop, late of Meredith Corp.’s More, where she helped create buzz around women over 40, was complimentary of the forthcoming redesign, which was done before she arrived. “I really like it, but naturally I’m going to take a fresh look at everything,” she said.Her plans include more concept covers like that of January, which features the iPhone; polls and stories that leverage RD’s global presence; and more election-related content. Northrop acknowledged the need to change RD’s dated perception, which she admitted even she shared. “There’s a lot of growth left here,” she said. “This is an iconic magazine brand, and it’s really exciting to reach out and take it to people who have not taken it as seriously.” Hmmm, Iconic, but people have not taken it seriously? RD Strikes Back-Cover Pact With [MW]

CNNMoney.com Executive Editor Xana Antunes: We did not borrow at all from Portfolio.com for Fortune.com

-MARTY CNNMoney.com Executive Editor Xana Antunes under questioning from the folks at Fishbowlny.com about the redesign of Fortune.com said that contrary to what blogs are saying about the new site resembling Porfolio.com they didn't get any inspiration from the competitor. OK Xana, we hear you on that one but, with all the past talk by the top people in editorial about how Fortune isn't worried about Portfolio and yada yada yada, wouldn't it have been smart to not come up with a design that would spark these suggestions? When putting your product under the knife to make sure it competes well with a new high profile competitor like Porfolio, the goal should have been to be as original as possible especially with the website. Because at the end of the day, no matter how you try to spin it, Fortune.com does resemble Portfolio.com. We only hope the redesigned print version doesn't carry an italic "F" in the logo. Xana Antunes: Fortune.com Does Not Borrow From Portfolio [FBNY]

Folio, the magazine about magazines revamps it's website, ugly, but an improvement

-MARTY Folio Magazine, reports on magazines getting makeovers in print and online. But today it's Folio's turn to be talked about. The mag about mags launched off its newly designed website which is split into 7 departments: Careers, Blogs, Resources, Magazine, Suppliers, Webinars and Events. All the more easier for real magazine heads to have useful info right at their finger tips. But we will let the Folio folks tell you about all the new and exciting things on their new website. Some of you may be more interested in their " A totally upgraded Career Center". You know, we always wondered what's taking Red 7 media (publisher of Folio) to grab up Circjobs.com. We thought former FishbowlNY Editor Dylan Stableford would have at least gotten his own blog within the new site. Nope. Dylan still shares posting space with other Folio-ites. FOLIO: magazine is pleased to present the beta launch of our completely revamped, upgraded and retooled Web site at http://www.foliomag.com/. FOLIOMag.com is full service destination for the publishing industry, offering highly targeted content, features and services ... and we're just getting started. Among the upgraded or new site features: FOLIOMAG.COM

probably we're late on this but did the New York Daily News nip and tuck their recently nip and tucked website?

-YOSH We just realized something while hunting for worthy news to put or take on. While sniffing through the new York Daily News website we realized something was different, the whole website! It looks like after everyone wrote about how sucky the first redesign was, and perhaps after them seeing how good the New York Post's website looked, the Daily News folks ordered their web design team back to the drawing board, or they hired a whole new web design team.

The new Fortune.com kinda makes us think of Portfolio.com...kinda

-YOSH In an attempt to remain relevant due to the launch of Conde Nast's heavy business glossy, Portfolio, the folks at Fortune Magazine finally pulled the curtains back on a newly redesigned Fortune.com. One thing struck us when we headed over to the Fortune website though. For a quick second, and we mean a quick second, we swear we were on Portfolio.com. We guess its due to the white logo on a dark charcoal grey background and the layout of the site. Then again the layout seems to be standard for business and current events magazines. We can understand why Fortune felt the need to redesign their website and even the magazine. But we think it falls short in the originality department. We were thinking more of a big blue Fortune logo with grey hi-lites or something on a white background and a font other than Arial or Georgia. But at the end of the day, the new design is a major improvement from the previous design. This comes as Fortune magazine is readying to launch its big print redesign in December or Jan. Some parts of bringing-the-big-brands-back strategy were hinted by Ann Moore, CEO of Time Inc. "What happened is we took the emphasis off the brands...it seemed crazy not to re-establish the power of these brands. We put in a new management team in place now." Also, since Fortune absorbed a lot of Business 2.0 journalists, it now has expanded online daily coverage on Fortune site. Fortune.com Redesigns; Magazine Relaunch Imminent [PaidContent]

maxim gets sophisticated as young lads have discovered that they can now get off on free porn on the web

-BY MARTY Maxim, once known for its raunchy covers and skin lined pages has turned down the heat a bit with the December issue. Having exhausted the whole skin craze in the late 90's Maxim wanted to show a little class by going back to its roots under its new owners at Alpha Media, or so says Editorial Director Jim Kaminsky. If you ask us, its now a straight version of GQ and Details. The new look graces the December issue, whose cover features a La Perla-clad Sarah Michelle Gellar. “The 25- to 26-year-old is a whole lot smarter than he was 10 years ago. The magazine has to be a little more sophisticated than it was when I was here,” said Kaminsky, who was executive editor of Maxim during its glory years of 1999 to 2002.The classier update (December’s style how-to advises on formal wear) hopes Rob Gregory, Maxim group publisher, will help the magazine with high-end fashion and auto advertisers. Ad pages are flat for ’07 owing to advertiser pullback related to the title’s sale, along with softness in automotive, although Gregory said clients are coming back. New clients in December include Diesel and Zune. Maxim Unveils a New Look [MediaWeek]

Newsweek.com gets off the MSN tit

Newsweek.com and Newsweek print is the latest weekly to undergo a makeover. The magazine rolled back the curtains on its new stand alone website packed with the usual but it's very refreshing to see the site outside the MSN.com domain. With this new stand alone site Newsweek.com will no doubt see a huge drop in traffic due to the fact that it was MSN that sent all the traffic there way. But we're sure they will be able to build their own... Newsweek.com

The year of the makeover continues. Next up, Newsweek

Following in the footsteps of Time and Businessweek, Newsweek will pull the curtains back on its online and print editions on Monday officially dubbing 2007 the year of magazine makeovers. But the folks at Newsweek aren't publicity sluts like Time or Businessweek opting to stay under the radar with their revamp, as explained by it's stealthy editor Jon Meacham. "It was stealth redesign," Meacham said yesterday as he was getting ready to ship the first of the new-look pages to the printer. "I just want people to judge it when they see it," said Meacham. "I don't believe in sweeping declarations." NEWSWEEK GETS A NEW LOOK IN PRINT, ON WEB [NYP]

You know what? We kinda like the new BusinessWeek after all

So we may have been a little hard on the folks at Businessweek and their 18 month process to spruce up the magazine and for that we say Oh well. But in addition to the big OH WELL! we have to say we like the new look of Businessweek. Sure you may have to look twice when you come across on newsstands but that's the whole point we guess. Good job boys and girls. BusinessWeek, owned by the McGraw-Hill Companies, is looking for some magic of its own to raise circulation and keep advertisers interested. The Internet has hurt business magazines in particular, and the new BusinessWeek format — which includes more news summaries and fewer lifestyle articles — is meant to be more Weblike. “We’re seeing a reader who is much busier than ever,” said Stephen J. Adler, editor in chief of BusinessWeek. “But if you really add tremendous value to the reader and they’re deeply engaged in the material, the broad premise is, that’s good for everyone: the consumer and the advertiser.” Imitating the Web, for the Busy Reader [NYT]