Anyone else received the latest issue? Like it? Hate it? Think they found a pile of unused New Yorker illustrations and decided to base a redesign around them?
Sorry, haven’t had a chance to check out the cover yet.
(NOTE: Just wanted to post a reply since no one had yet. rackensack, I didn’t want you getting a reputation as a post killer :))
Apparently I’m a new subscriber to Atlantic Monthly.
I say “apparently” because I didn’t actually subscribe to it. I was subscribed to the Library of Congress’s wonderful publication, Civilization.
But it folded, and a few weeks ago I got the latest issue of Atlantic Monthly along with a letter from the Librarian of Congress saying Civilization had folded, and my subscription was being converted to an AM subscription.
Previously I’d only read an issue here or there of AM, so if it’s been recently redesigned, I can’t tell. How’s it different? Isn’t the cover title font the same?
Five: If the issue you have has an illustration of a brawny guy on the cover, in conjunction with the cover story about how technology is revolutionizing traditional industries (like oil), then it’s the old design. If it’s got a cariacature of Bill Clinton tipping a top hat, it’s the new one.
The whole look and feel of the book is different. The old cover design used a highly condensed Bodoni-like face for the title, with the full title “Atlantic Monthly”. The new design uses a bold or ultra-bold Bodoni for the title, which has only the word “Atlantic” in large type.
You can see the difference in the cover design on the main page of their web site at http://www.theatlantic.com. Most of the page looks like the new design, but the banner ad at the top right has a picutre of several old issues, with the old cover design.
Inside, they’ve adopted Bodoni as the main body face, with liberal use of a sans face I’m not familiar with for headings and accents. They’ve also instituted a three-column format (it was two before, IIRC, enclosed feature article titles in a ruled box that extends the full width of the page, and added lots of New Yorker-style ink-and-wash illustrations throughout.
And ep, it’s far too late to prevent me from establishing a reputation as threadkiller, or as the creator of threads that are DOA. I fully expect anything I post to be the last word on the subject <grin>.
The only issue I’ve received is indeed the “old technology / new technology” issue, so I’ll reserve judgment on the redesign until I’ve actually seen it.
I’ve only read a little of the issue, but I did quite enjoy the “Wicca is bunk” article. And the column on English usage at the back.