From Vogue to Vague

So I finally have a bit of time for myself and decided to take a little trip to the south of France for three days. But, of course, my obsession for the editorial world is not at rest and I had a few hours at the airport to catch up on what I’ve missed commenting on these past few months. Let’s start with a recent cover, I’m looking at you Vogue U.S, I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to be looking at you right now…. For their July cover they have singer Katy Perry. But wait…this looks familiar…

Yes they did. This cover looks an awful lot like their December 2012 issue with Anne Hathaway. Come on, I know it's summer and that this is a small issue but I'm surprised nobody noticed this. The color scheme is the same, green, pretty red flowers, that weird sad empty gaze is still here and honestly it wasn't a winning cover in December and it's not one now. However, this cover is the least of Vogue's problem right now.

 

I'm not even going to mention the layout and graphic design from the spreads inside the issue…Ok well that's a total lie… I have to mention that. When I flipped through the magazine and saw…whatever it was that I saw I'm still not sure, I had to look at the cover twice to check I was indeed looking at Vogue U.S, that's not a good thing...

I do not understand how the whole artistic direction of this publication can be so wrong. If you swapped the current cover with the ELLE logo no one would notice the difference…(that is an insult to ELLE actually, their layouts are divine compared to this) I’m not talking about the pictures as there are some good series in there but Oh My God the typography?? It looks like a failed merger between 4 or 5 different magazines! (no Vogue…that’s not a good thing when you look like you’re stealing layouts and fonts from everyone else…). Maybe the art director is on vacation who knows, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. I have, many times, lashed out at Vogue U.S because this publication which is supposed to be so elegant, fashion oriented and forward is simply a mess. They don’t even have a signature typeface (or one particular typeface that stands out more than the other for that matter, it looks like they are just using whatever they are in the mood for when they make a layout..). I isolated a few spreads to compare and contrast them with layouts from other publications like Vanity Fair and ELLE in case my point isn’t already made, check them out below:

All I can add to conclude this post is this: What it particularly sad is that Vogue U.S is not the magazine is used to be anymore. I find the whole publication to be a bit all over the place way too often (design wise, the photoshoots are still good). I'm liking the foreign Vogues a lot better these days.

Cheesy december vogue U.S

for their december issue, vogue US showed no fear…of total failure. Anne hathaway is an actress I admire for her acting as well as her beauty and vogue decided to put her on their december 2012 cover...

I haven't had the time to post in a while and missed the golden opportunity to talk about this cover. As soon as I saw this cover my face pretty much looked like a cartoon character in shock. What was Vogue thinking?? Let's dissect this winter mess shall we:

First, the photography by (amazing) Annie Leibovitz is far from reaching her normal level of talent. Anne Hathaway looks so terribly sad, I swear her eyes are drooping downer and downer the more I look at this….She looks like she is melting and hat isn't something I want to see. On top of that you add your grandma's rose bush in the back and you're set to cry for a while.

Second, the typography. To be honest it's nothing different that what Vogue has been doing for a while now, a bold and light boring old sans serif typeface that is ready to eat everything standing in its way. Soon they will put type on top of people's faces…. As I mentioned in one of my previous post, this cover does not say vogue AT ALL to me. it screams a cheap house and garden magazine and the first sentence that comes to mind while looking at this is "how to stay pretty (or fail) while planting roses in a cocktail dress".

Third, the color palette. Oh wow red and green how original for a christmas issue…why not put a christmas tree and a stocking with Anne's name while you're at it?

and fourth but not least, the actual pictures of Hathaway used for her feature. If you have ever heard of Mylene Farmer (famous french singer in the 80's and 90's) you definitely see where I'm going with this. The styling and pictures look like they were taken straight from Farmer's video clip from one of her hit songs "libertine" in 1986. If you watch it now it does look a bit cheesy but the way Leibovitz photographed Hathaway is even cheesier. Again I ask: How is this Vogue?

Mylene Farmer in 1986 on the left facing Anne Hathaway in Vogue US dec 2012