August issue comments, part 2

[Peggy Wilkins]

Now that I've had some time to sit with the August issue, and some
more time has passed since our last considerations of PLAYBOY recent
issues, it's time to open up the August issue and comment on some
things besides my aversion to the presentation of the CSC feature.

The most obvious change in the new PLAYBOY has been the redesign of
the page layout.  I have had some time to live with this and have gone
back to look at several issues many times now.  I have at this point
settled upon feeling that the look of this new layout is not what I
would hope it to be.  Here are some specific points about the layout,
and a few additional comments on some other features in the August
issue.

- PLAYBOY After Hours: This section is very clunky looking, with too
many rectangles and margins that are too big.  Everywhere I look, I
see boxes enclosing things.  The Babe of the Month in particular has
way too big a margin.  How about enlarging the photographs to take up
the entire page?  The second page (p.18) goes so far as to have a dark
rectangle with white text on top of the already rectangle-enclosed
photo.  Lose the rigid rectangles and the wide margins, and all the
After Hours will look much less clunky.  This applies less to Reviews,
where the division seems to make more sense and where there is more
material to fill out the page, but I still think smaller margins would
be a positive change here.

- There is a clash between old and new looks among the various
features.  For instance, old standby features like the Advisor and the
Interview have very old-fashioned looks -- the Advisor looks like it
could have come out of an issue 25 years ago, and of course the
Interview opening page has remained the same for 40+ years now.  I
know I have mentioned the Interview layout before, and I'd still love
to see a high quality (medium format), color studio full page portrait
to open the feature.  The layout evokes the classic Interview, but
this look is such a contrast to the other features that I consider it
problematic, classic or not.  How about text in two columns instead of
three?  This would apply to the Advisor, too.  I think a refashioning
of these classic features is not only advisable, but mandatory, so
they stop sticking out like a sore thumb.

- I am ambivalent about the sidebar/entry points.  When they add
relevant information, they are great, but all too often they seem to
be a mess of barely related information; to me, this makes them
detract from the features rather than enhancing them.  For instance,
in the Tobey Macguire interview, there is a sidebar on animals in
movies, and the only relation to Macguire is that he is starring in
"Seabiscuit".  That relation is so tenuous that it is more distracting
then helpful.  I don't see how this helps pull anyone into the
interview, unless the point is only to make them stop flipping the
pages.

- Carnie Wilson: The photos aren't bad, but I think this is a poor
choice for PLAYBOY.  This feature is of interest to women, not men,
and PLAYBOY is really sending conflicting signals to its audience in
running this.  I hate to be so glib, but I'll bet a woman editor came
up with this idea.  I know for a fact that this feature caused one
long time reader to cancel his subscription.

- Another feature crying out for a redesign is Next Month on the last
page.  It is just about the most unattractive feature in the entire
magazine.

- Survivor pictorial: Quite nice, and generally well received except
by people who thought they didn't "show enough" for PLAYBOY.  The
cover line "their clothes got voted off" is wonderful.  Jenna seems to
have a hard time communicating with the camera in a good way, she
looks sullen in almost all the pictures, even (unfortunately) the
cover.  This timely feature is right on target.

- The Playmate feature is absolutely charming with its road trip theme
and cute "hey there, going my way?" opener.  As nice as this is, I'd
still like to see some more updated settings/looks for Playmate
pictures.  As I mentioned before, the SE people may be a very very big
help with any such undertaking.


Peggy Wilkins
mozart@lib.uchicago.edu