Week 1 Report

Features I really liked and why:

I love the Capture section of the Web site. It asks semi- to full-on-famous people to capture snapshots they find interesting in the world using their mobile phone. This is also a dedicated page in the magazine I find intriguing and slice-of-life-ish.

The Web site also offers various interactive features that load seamlessly and feel like natural extensions rather than something tacked on for effect. For example, this fashion piece on the new catwalk features a clean-cut slide show reminiscent of other sites but without the interfering advertisements (link may require clicking within slide show to activate advertisements). While I don't know how sustainable it will be from a revenue-generating standpoint, it synchronizes the aesthetic perspective of both the magazine and the Web site and leaves the editorial feel in tact.

What’s not working with the site:

This Web site offers a lot to see, and I feel like I'm overloading my senses. This feeling may dilute itself as I visit the site week after week, but right now it feels like too much. I find myself looking at the pictures and reading over big captions, while only skimming over all of the sidebar and Twitter feed attributes. In this respect, the cleanness of the magazine is lost on the homepage of the site.

What’s not there that I’d like to see:

I'd like to see direct updates about what you can view only on the Web site compared to the magazine. That is, I want to know how the Web site will extend the longevity and enjoyment of the magazine. Will I be able to see extra photos from cover shoots, or gleam samples of music from featured artists? I want to know and not have to fish for it.

How the competitors’ sites compare:

Comparatively, competitor Web sites feature similar homepage layouts with lots of information, revolving feature stories and pretty colours. W Magazine, operated by Conde Nast, is all about having you subscribe through a constant barrage of popups, which ultimately distract from the overall enjoyment of the Web site. I feel like I'm looking at something produced because it has to be there in this market.

V Magazine does a good job of integrating its stories with other features and even lets you preview the magazine in a virtual magazine layout with flipping pages and load times. The site is quite enjoyable, however, and offers more than W Magazine, while competing with Interview in terms of design and ease of use -- after the homepage.

Vanity Fair's features include that extra information upfront, such as this extra photo shoot of Robert Pattinson which didn't make it into the final magazine. Overall, the Web site is easy to follow and resembles the physical magazine. Vanity Fair also does a good job of competing with Interview, although it perhaps has a more solid reputation (Interview went through two or three editors and two redesigns in the past two years), which can be seen in the online integration of articles.