Whether you like the content or not, Playboy magazine is a design icon in the world of the printed magazine. Alex Cornell (who we’ve mentioned last year and has a solid folio), has done a conceptual redesign of the magazine;
What would happen if the magazine removed all nudity and became a purely literary publication, allowing people to actually “read it for the articles”.
Alex has taken an interesting angle and the results are reminiscent of Monocle magazine a little. This is echoed in Alex’s most ambitious move to completely change the logo which I think really works overall. It’d be interesting to see what die hard fans of the magazine as well as you guys think.
Coincidently, there were a couple of discussions floating around the twitisphere along similar lines. Would you still read FHM et al if it looked like Monocle magazine? Thoughts etc?
Finally there’s some content NSFW.
Add Share
1st Jan 2010
4:24 pm
If I want a giant cheeseburger then I want it to taste like to one. Removing nudity from Playboy is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. Isn’t that what Playboy is founded on? It’s not even considering the target audience and their desires. I’m not a subscriber of nudey-mags but I believe people have the right to “get off” on whatever they please.
If they had a special edition of a non-nudity Playboy magazine it would be interesting to see how well it sold, whether as a collector’s item or a purely good read. I doubt it would fly, but it’d still be interesting.
As for the logo. Changing it would be the stupidest move EVER.
vidyaputra
2nd Jan 2010
7:04 am
i think it would depend on type of content or article in it; i would read it if i found that the article is usefull and interesting… but i hope the new playboy magazine would not 100% different from the old one;
BrfDsgn
3rd Jan 2010
9:01 pm
I think it\’s an interesting idea, and nice to see it get a mention on here.
Just using the bow-tie as the logo for me, would work really well.
Gil
3rd Jan 2010
10:28 pm
A bit of a controversial one if this ever went ahead but, I still think the content could remain the same it’s just the way in which it is handled/treated that could change making it more of classy mag, perhaps shedding some of the stereotypical preconceptions of the mag?
CarlWoode
3rd Jan 2010
11:21 pm
some of the world\’s best writer’s have been published first in Playboy.
I would definitely buy the magazine for its content. There is porn all over the place but good content is more rare now (Atlantic, etc.). Sales of Playboy in recent years show that the magazine (soft porn) is not sexy enough for new tastes. There is need for more sophistication as illustrated in the bowtie logo: great idea and it works for me.
Matt
4th Jan 2010
12:05 am
Considering so many lads magazines are going under, the concept behind this isn’t that far fetched, I don’t think. And that’s what it is, a concept. It’s not actually something that’ll happen, but if it did, I don’t think it’d be that bad a thing. Keep a few breasts in there, throw some short fiction in there and the likes, and I reckon it’d be gold. I love Monocle as much as anybody else, but I am also a fan of breasts.
Also, the logo? I love it. Plus, changing it to a fox would cause such a stir that I reckon it’d be nigh on impossible to buy a copy they’d fly off the shelf so quickly.
Davis
4th Jan 2010
1:31 am
As crazy as this sounds, I think this would be a good idea. The publicity would be completely insane. People would freak out and the issues would sell like crazy. Sure a lot of people would be super pissed off, but I guarantee that # would be less than the # of people who would be curious and buy the mag instead. Playboy WILL go out of business soon (or at least kill the mag and move online). Why not throw one last hail mary?
Aaron Pou
4th Jan 2010
4:07 am
Well done, my biggest gripe is losing the nudity. As stated by others here, Playboy is synonymous with beautiful nude women – its the photography that looks unconsidered and cheesy.
Nicely executed logo, and great write-up explaining the thought process, it works for the brand really well. It is however, very controversial to lose the bunny.
As far as the layout and editorial look and feel – it feels like ‘Monocle’ or the soon to be released ‘The Gentleman’ and a bit like. well, I’ve seen it before. That being said, it feels right. If Playboy wants to be taken seriously anymore, it needs to smarten up and this approach, while slightly flawed is one of the better case studies I’ve seen of a proposed rebrand of an iconic brand.
My suggestion – don’t alienate the core customer by losing the nudity, instead, make it acceptable for men like myself to buy Playboy magazine by making it more sophisticated. More in the vein of Daniel Creig as the new James Bond. Intelligent, sophisticated yet still masculine.
Great work though, very thought provoking.
Cheers!
THOMAs
4th Jan 2010
1:07 pm
This just looks like ‘Fantastic Man’ with Playboy content.
Andy Russell
4th Jan 2010
2:49 pm
Seen this a while back… the re-design is nice along with the concept behind the new logo. Butt, and its a lovely big butt, (grow up, I know) it is has been designed with designers in mind not wankers (literally).
Though could they be one of the same thing?!? ;0) anyway nice piece (apologies, I\’m sorry.)
mat bickley
7th Jan 2010
11:32 am
This looks like a really nice piece of Art Direction, is it purely conceptual or will the re-design hit our shelves ?
Rob
15th Feb 2010
10:31 pm
In a world in which nudity is easier to find than almost anything, Playboy finds itself grasping for a niche. I know this work is done conceptually, but it is grounded in the truth that THE gentlemen\’s magazine lost its way in the last few decades; trading short term profit for long term brand identity and dignity.
Wherever they go from here, the nudity will be there, and god bless\’m. But the primary focus needs to shift to something more progressive.
Gil
16th Feb 2010
4:13 pm
@mat bickley
It’s purely a conceptual piece with no affiliation to the Playboy publishers.