Thursday, February 22, 2007
Esquire's "New" Website
PaidContent.org's David Kaplan reviews Esquire.com's new look website, and finds it to be "a step in the right direction. But it needs to take some bigger steps."Even though Esquire is one of my favorite magazines--I've been a loyal subscriber through thick and thin since I was in my 20s--the website doesn't do much for me, design and navigation-wise. It looks jumbled together, and seems to emphasize Esquire's continued attempts to 'out-lad' the ADD-addled 'lad' books, most of which seem to be past their prime these days anyway.
There is good stuff on the web site. The cover gallery provides a wonderful tour for magazine and design junkies of every cover of the magazine, including the launch issue from 1933, which I've included with this post. You can easily search and freely access back issues from 1999 onward. And I like the little Esquire "rule" that scrolls across the top of the home page, mimicking the placement of these little funny and weird gems in the printed magazine. (Rule No. 432: The study of plate tectonics is best left to professionals.)
There's a ton of great editorial, from one of the great editorially-driven magazines, including web-exclusive material. And there's even an easy to use RSS feed link. Esquire looks to be doing everything almost right on the content front.
I just don't like the way the web version of the magazine looks. It's not well designed, and it doesn't seem to know how to deal with advertising placement in a smooth way.
Kaplan notes in his review:Esquire, and publishers in general, might want to consider what made the magazine so distinctive during its heyday in the sixties. At that time creative thinkers like George Lois not only drew in readers and advertisers, but pushed boundaries that redefined journalism, art direction and the central nature of what a magazine is. That may be too much to ask of any editorial property today. But at the very least, a magazine - print or web - should be fun to look at. Secondly, an editorial website should use its brand identity to go farther than its printed version.
