Competitors

I took the liberty of photographing rival magazines to get an idea of the sort of theme and aesthetic used. There may be common themes throughout a few which I need to be aware of, as well as picking out workable grid structures, colours, fonts used, etc to see if there are any reoccurring themes.

The first magazine is 'Architectural Review' which is a high end magazine aimed at professionals and ethusiasts.

The Architectural Review is the only truly global architecture magazine, providing diverse and incisive coverage spanning all parts of the world. With a 114 year history as the world’s favourite architecture publication, it is a leader of debates and a must-have for architecture and design communities around the world.

The use of serif fonts and slab serifs such as the use of Clarendon on the cover does add value. The body copy is something we are expected to read in comfort and for a long duration. The layout is certainly not groundbreaking, but it is appropriate for the reader.















































The next example is Detail Magazine, which is a building and construction magazine aimed at professionals.

Each issue of DETAIL is devoted to a specific constructional theme and provides a comprehensive treatment of the subject in the various sections of the journal. The main section is the Documentation, containing an analysis of selected projects, in which buildings from around the world are covered in depth. In addition to the aesthetic quality of the architecture, constructional details play a central role. All plan drawings are redrawn in-house true to scale and in consultation with the architects, planners and engineers responsible for the original design. This affords readers ready access to the projects and a swift means of comparison at a uniformly high level.

Again the layout is clean and tight with enough room to showcase imagery effectively. It's design seems less expensive than Architectural Review, perhaps because of the use of sans serif typefaces, and the use of the 3 column grid appose to the 4 column on the AR. The stock feels cheaper and the leaves inside are not as weighty as AR. The overall consensus is that Detail Magazine feels and looks quite cheap.