This new magazine format is junk. When I first subscribed pre-dot.com era, Wired represented forward thinking. The clean layout and wide-size page format were appealing in a way that made me want to read the magazine, and be seen reading the magazine.
The current format looks like a conglomeration of pre-teen MySpace pages. Conventional wisdom of a clean, 'whitespace speaks more than copy,' attitude has been thrown out the window.
The black bars, which are apparently to indicate the section breaks and number of pages are inconsistent at best. What good is this indicator if it is not in the same place on each page?
Gone are the days that Wired can eloquently communicate with its readers. Pages 36 and 37 are a prime example. The map of the US looks like crap, and makes me cringe. If this were an old-format spread, the map of the country would look appealing, and incorporate something about the statistic into the graphic, like an old globalization article which took a world map and incorporated corporate logos into the shapes of countries and continents.
I can't tell what is an ad, and what is content. I'm sure your advertisers would be concerned with that. Wired is no longer forward thinking, and the layout proves it.
Sean Estrada
