Museum Practice, the magazine for museum and gallery officials, has shaken off its dusty image in a bid to attract younger and more contemporary-minded readers.
The redesign has resulted in the use of colour photography and double-page spreads for the first time. The pages also have a sharper appearance with improved use of typography and images.
The revamp, led by Gary Cook, former art director on the Financial Times’ Saturday magazine, The Business, will be out on 20 May.
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Cook was given the brief to retain the more traditional curators while making the magazine more appealing to younger readers.
Illustrated reviews of new museums and galleries were made a priority to give readers a sense of their design quality. The title also features critical reviews and previews of forthcoming events as well as practical guides.
Cook said he wanted to “improve the relationship between space and content”. The navigation has improved throughout the magazine and new typefaces such as Trade Gothic, Swift and Scene have been added. “Given that there were financial restraints, the continued success of the magazine relied on a simple, graphic approach. This included sections of the magazine being printed in spot-colour and a selection of simple but elegant typefaces,” he said.
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Editor Javier Pes added: “The old look was so strait-laced and grey, it didn’t reflect the fact that museums and galleries are all about good visual communication. Our reviews gave readers little sense of what the new museums or galleries looked like.”
By Ruth Addicott
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