New-look Wallpaper: “to treasure”
The new-look Wallpaper is like an item of furniture you will want to treasure, according to editor-in-chief Jeremy Langmead.
The style and design-led glossy has had a complete overhaul and added a touch of humour in a bid to give it a new lease of life.
Langmead took the helm and hired a new team following the departure of Wallpaper’s founding editor Tyler Brulé last year.
Unveiling the new look this week, he told Press Gazette it was time for Wallpaper to “move on” and be a little bit less predictable.
“I wanted it to look very modern but elegant so you could pick up the June issue in three years’ time and it would not look dated,” he said.
“I also wanted it to look so beautiful that people would want to have it on their coffee table – which they do already – and to look a little bit scruffy because they have read it so many times.
“I want it to be something you keep picking up and reading – almost like an item of furniture you want to treasure.”
Wallpaper has introduced a fashion section featuring a mix of architecture and style; a regular property section which Langmead calls “property porn”, and a back page featuring an international artist who will create an original piece of work for the magazine each month.
The features have also been re-organised into reports and lifestyle sections and will adopt a more light-hearted approach, such as the article in the June issue on “how aesthetic differences can kill a relationship”.
Asked if Wallpaper had become more mainstream under IPC, Langmead added: “What I have tried to do is make it even more sophisticated and accessible. I think there is a warmer feel to it.
“You’re entering an exclusive club, but it’s a club you don’t feel uncomfortable in, so you still get to feel a part of something special and you don’t feel awkward sitting down.”
The new typefaces are unique to Wallpaper and even the iconic asterisk has been given a subtle makeover featuring a new asterisk flower within the existing one.
Photographer Helmut Newton, writer Ariel Leve, former Financial Times columnist Helen Kirwan Taylor and novelist Andrew O’Hagan are among the contributors.
By Ruth Addicott
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog