US Harper's Bazaar July 2009 : Angelina Jolie / Doutzen Kroes by Terry Richardson

[WerbowyStegner]

And its exactly this kind of attitude that enables the cycle of mediocrity that has infested the fashion publishing world. Average people are smart and intelligent enough to know what is appealing. They are smart enough to see good writing and good photography and realize what is what when given the chance. Magazines underestimate their audience and try to dumb things down when they don't have to. I'm willing to be that these so called average people know a whole lot more than they're given credit for. Perhaps the connotation of my post was hard to gage but all these comments in thread about people being out of touch with reality for finding this whole affair to be a low point for Bazaar strike me as exceptionally condescending. All anyone is trying to say is that this is shoddy and mediocre work from a once great magazine.

I did not mean they are stupid , average. Or unintelligent but simply put it they do not place as much emphasis on the 'importance' of magazine covers. By they I mean 'generally' speaking. Do you think majority of people care that models aren't on the covers or that the text is too overcrowding or the cover is not artistic enough.. Of course people purchase magazines that they feel are worthy and on par with what they like but simply put what I'm trying to say is 'average' people DOES NOT EQUAL they are 'average' . What I meant by average was 'people who are of the mainstream' and as a whole .. do not place as much emphasis on the importance of the beauty of art in magazines or whatever. Its just a magazine after all .. like tigerrouge said , I'm not saying ALL but a lot of people dont treat magazines like tFSers do .. like it has to be artistically perfect.. and my main point was bazaar is targetting the market as a whole ,not a specific group of highfashion lovers. Why does people/ok sell? Or seventeen for that matter.. ? Or cosmopolitan?None of them really feature any 'artistic' highfashion material ,or highly intellectual articles.. bazaar is trying to compete with ALL magazines They are not limiting themselves to just highfashion lovers.. and I personally think that the cover is beautiful and will sell which is what bazaar wants

Sorry for the rant , its nothing personal ..

 

[tigerrouge]

Bazaar could be better, we all agree on that.

To me, because Bazaar gets dismissed more than it gets analysed, we don't really explore why we have the Bazaar we do. We don't really know if it's an editorially-driven vision or if it's the result of compliance with certain business structures particular to that magazine. So any debate about it interests me.

I do think the current Bazaar is the end result of trying to appeal to a wide range of people, with content designed to offend no-one.

And those pesky average people: they are smart and deeply into their areas of interest - whether that be cars, music or so on. They will purchase magazines that describe those areas of interest and be avidly interested in looking at the content. But for most of those people, the magazines are simply a printed update about what they're really interested in - which is cars, not magazines. Music, not magazines. The magazines are not the main event. The magazines are ultimately disposable, especially considering that their content is out-of-date as soon as the next issue appears. If one issue is rubbish, they'll remark upon it, and hope that the next few issues will make up for it.

It isn't an insult to recognise different approaches to magazine buying, and to believe that most people's behaviours and beliefs about them don't resemble my own.

"Underestimating the audience" is a business approach which occurs in every sector where someone is trying to sell products to a wide audience. Indeed, there could be people in that Bazaar office who would put their heart and soul into trying to create content that really communicates with their readers, to please, interest and educate them.

But someone else in the company is saying, that won't work. Did a different approach work when Tilberis was in charge? I remember reading that Bazaar wasn't doing so well then. And what were the sales of the Bazaar before that? Analysis would be interesting, to see what underlies Bazaar in a long-term view.

 

[Jacque Marcel]

ugh, Glenda knew she had a stinker issue, obviously, so she just put Angelina on the cover to create buzz.

 

[ponytrot]

good lord, this issue, from top to bottom is utter tosh. Doutzen's ed is ridiculous, i would think it was another one of her Victoria's Secret's ads or something - tacky and beyond boring.

 

[masquerade]

I did not mean they are stupid , average. Or unintelligent but simply put it they do not place as much emphasis on the 'importance' of magazine covers. By they I mean 'generally' speaking. Do you think majority of people care that models aren't on the covers or that the text is too overcrowding or the cover is not artistic enough.. Of course people purchase magazines that they feel are worthy and on par with what they like but simply put what I'm trying to say is 'average' people DOES NOT EQUAL they are 'average' . What I meant by average was 'people who are of the mainstream' and as a whole .. do not place as much emphasis on the importance of the beauty of art in magazines or whatever. Its just a magazine after all .. like tigerrouge said , I'm not saying ALL but a lot of people dont treat magazines like tFSers do .. like it has to be artistically perfect.. and my main point was bazaar is targetting the market as a whole ,not a specific group of highfashion lovers. Why does people/ok sell? Or seventeen for that matter.. ? Or cosmopolitan?None of them really feature any 'artistic' highfashion material ,or highly intellectual articles.. bazaar is trying to compete with ALL magazines They are not limiting themselves to just highfashion lovers.. and I personally think that the cover is beautiful and will sell which is what bazaar wants

Sorry for the rant , its nothing personal ..

i wouldn't say that Bazaar is competing with Seventeen or Cosmo at all. They are totally different magazines and the content appeals to different people. Sure, you can say that they are competing in the sense that all publications are competing at the newstands/grocery checkout line, but the content of Bazaar appeals to a more fashion savvy customer, and the cover should reflect that.

Now, when you are talking about the everyday person, it's not as if you completely ignore aesthetics if you aren't into fashion. Everyone is drawn to good aesthetics. Someone with less of an invested interest in magazines may not care why a text heavy cover is aesthetically unappealing but catching at a newsstand. However, they still see it and are affected by it. People go to school to learn graphic design and commercial art, it is not haphazard.

 

[WerbowyStegner]

...ohkay I guess you dont understand what I mean ;

 

[lamies022]

Ok so I got this issue today and it's not that bad but really short (there are literally no ads except for 1 or 2 generic/commercial ones).
Doutzen looks amazing on the cover though her ed is bland
The Lindbergh ed looks great in person and has now convinced me of Heidi's decent modelling abilities
The fall preview ed is standard for Bazaar, though the casting is a nice choice, Yulia especially looks nice
And finally Milla's ed is cute and she looks stunning of course but it's also kinda boring.
I would certainly not buy this issue if I weren't a subscriber

 

[mercyminx]

They definitely need a new EIC, but who?

 

[enVogue]

Doutzen's ed is great

 

[vogue28]

I am quite shocked at all the negativity concerning Doutzen's editorial.
I really like it for HB. Doutzen looks gorgeous. It's just a shame that one of the shots isn't on the newsstand copies.
Otherwise this would of been a great issue. It's the only downgrade imho.

 

[Miss Dalloway]

^^And i'm shocked by your comment, imho that ed is lazy, cheap and plain inspid FOR HB! Look at Terry's other work for Bazaar, its always been either tongue in cheek or ironically sexy, this is neither, just plain bland and not worth the paper.I despise his work, except for HB since he has to tone it down, but i will rather take his usual vulgar photography than this, at least it feels honest.

 

[caliboy672180]

doutzen's ed is beyond boring. i could have styled the shoot better.

 

[Lilli_Anita]

There were a few pictures from Yulia and Maryna's ed that weren't posted.

scanned by me

 

[MissMagAddict]

I got my issue today & Doutzen's editorial is one of the worst I've seen so far this year... if not the worst.

I have to agree with Miss Dalloway completely.

I'll scan some of the shopping pages & stuff later for the people that enjoy those

 

[iluvjeisa]

To me, because Bazaar gets dismissed more than it gets analysed, we don't really explore why we have the Bazaar we do. We don't really know if it's an editorially-driven vision or if it's the result of compliance with certain business structures particular to that magazine. So any debate about it interests me.

I do think the current Bazaar is the end result of trying to appeal to a wide range of people, with content designed to offend no-one.

And those pesky average people: they are smart and deeply into their areas of interest - whether that be cars, music or so on. They will purchase magazines that describe those areas of interest and be avidly interested in looking at the content. But for most of those people, the magazines are simply a printed update about what they're really interested in - which is cars, not magazines. Music, not magazines. The magazines are not the main event. The magazines are ultimately disposable, especially considering that their content is out-of-date as soon as the next issue appears. If one issue is rubbish, they'll remark upon it, and hope that the next few issues will make up for it.

It isn't an insult to recognise different approaches to magazine buying, and to believe that most people's behaviours and beliefs about them don't resemble my own.

"Underestimating the audience" is a business approach which occurs in every sector where someone is trying to sell products to a wide audience. Indeed, there could be people in that Bazaar office who would put their heart and soul into trying to create content that really communicates with their readers, to please, interest and educate them.

But someone else in the company is saying, that won't work. Did a different approach work when Tilberis was in charge? I remember reading that Bazaar wasn't doing so well then. And what were the sales of the Bazaar before that? Analysis would be interesting, to see what underlies Bazaar in a long-term view.

This ties on to something I've mentioned before, and that I find curious in general. Why did the circulation start to matter so terribly? During the time of Diana Vreeland as editor in chief for Vogue, I have heard that circulation was down quite a bit. However, what they lost in revenue for those years, they probably gained in notoriety and status for years to come. Same, apparently with the Tiberlis Bazaar.

I can understand that the average reader sees the magazine as a disposable tool to find out the latest. However, it is sad that the people in charge of the magazine, whether it's the editors or the publishers, feel that the magazine is solely to provide a disposable tool to find out the latest. Of course, it's a company, it has to behave this way, but you would think a huge publishing house such as Hearst would be able to designate the earning pressure to its less fashionable publications and allow the venerable magazines some creative freedom.

 

[Melly5525]

Even though the candid shot cover is a major dissapoint Im always excited for the July issue with the fall preview, maryna looks fantastic in all the clothes, especially that sequined Dolce dress is so fun.

 

[Fiercification]

How does Terry's shooting for Vogue leave his future at Bazaar? If I'm not mistaken Conde Nast photographers are bound by contract from shooting with Hearst publications and vice versa in the US...hence Demarchelier's move from HB to Vogue in 2004...

Maybe he was the photographer The Hiss Squad were referring to considering the departure of a certain photog?

 

[nyc_art_style]

I did not mean they are stupid , average. Or unintelligent but simply put it they do not place as much emphasis on the 'importance' of magazine covers. By they I mean 'generally' speaking. Do you think majority of people care that models aren't on the covers or that the text is too overcrowding or the cover is not artistic enough.. Of course people purchase magazines that they feel are worthy and on par with what they like but simply put what I'm trying to say is 'average' people DOES NOT EQUAL they are 'average' . What I meant by average was 'people who are of the mainstream' and as a whole .. do not place as much emphasis on the importance of the beauty of art in magazines or whatever. Its just a magazine after all .. like tigerrouge said , I'm not saying ALL but a lot of people dont treat magazines like tFSers do .. like it has to be artistically perfect.. and my main point was bazaar is targetting the market as a whole ,not a specific group of highfashion lovers. Why does people/ok sell? Or seventeen for that matter.. ? Or cosmopolitan?None of them really feature any 'artistic' highfashion material ,or highly intellectual articles.. bazaar is trying to compete with ALL magazines They are not limiting themselves to just highfashion lovers.. and I personally think that the cover is beautiful and will sell which is what bazaar wants

Sorry for the rant , its nothing personal ..

i might not fully understand why you're saying, so correct me if i'm wrong.

so in your eyes, the general public will happily accept a mediocre and lazy cover. or that the general public can't tell the difference between an amazing cover and a mediocre one.

 

[Tiffannie]

I don't know why they used that Angelina pic. I agree that it looks like some tabloid magazine rather than a fashion magazine. I like the article on her though and it's a shame she couldn't do the photoshoot. I like the Doutzen cover though.THe editorials always suck on Bazaar but I like it for the other material such as bargain buys, buy now love forever, etc. I still prefer it over Vogue because Vogue always has sooo many ADS

 

[tigerrouge]

so in your eyes, the general public will happily accept a mediocre and lazy cover. or that the general public can't tell the difference between an amazing cover and a mediocre one.

I'd say they will notice, but it isn't such a big deal to them, as it would be to someone who has a bedroom full of magazines, or whose career is connected to page design, or a person who prides themselves on being au fait with the office politics behind publications.

If the next cover is a stunner, the general public won't spend their time recalling the "Great Bazaar Tabloid Shot Debacle of 2009" for the next decade on internet sites. It really won't mean much in their overall world view. They'll move on quite quickly, probably to a great pair of shoes they'll see on pg 58 that they'll go get tomorrow.