Features I liked and why: Interview does a good job, for the most part, of integrating images, audio and video into its posts, which I like. Take this Justin Bieber article. It features a series of images at the beginning of the post, most presumably from the magazine feature, and then the article. In the middle of the article's first page is a Playlist.com-created music profile for Bieber, which adds to the experience by letting you listen to his music while you read his article. I thought this integration was great and convenient, because when I normally read a music interview I want to know what the artist sounds like.
What's not working with the site: Nothing's really not working with the Web site this week. Over t
he past few months I've come to really enjoy its mirrors-the-magazine aesthetic. The design, by Code and Theory, is crisp and relevant and easy to navigate. While all of its features aren't active, which is a minus, the overall experience is enjoyable, which is as much as anyone could hope given it's a magazine Web site.
What's not there that I'd like to see: I'd like to see my subscription issues! I haven't received the last three issues and can only complain after the late-deadline has passed for receiving the issues. My February issue never appeared and they finally credited my account for the magazine. Make a point of that: They aren't sending me my magazine, but crediting my account for another issue. How am I supposed to have a collection without the Jay-Z cover?! That it takes months and months to receive an issue when it appears on the newsstand regularly is preposterous. While not a Web site critique, so to speak, it's irksome they don't take better care of their subscribers.
How the competitors' sites compare: W Magazine is still offering that red shoulder bag with a paid subscription, which is annoying. Maybe if they offered something else, I'd subscribe. The Web site has been updated to reflect the current issue, and that's about it.
V Magazine actually features a nude breast on its homepage, which I thought was interesting. Interesting in not that I like to see nude breasts -- I don't -- but that it shows home much of an artsy magazine it thinks of itself as. Other than that, content is similar. I like the color-coded blog calendar, but that's about it. They do offer a free digital preview to their magazine, which is nice.
Vanity Fair, apart from its redesign, is going strong. Its blogs are updated regularly and the content reflects the current issue's.
While two of the competitor Web sites are from Condé Nast, which is evident in their design layouts, the overall competition is doing similar things to Interview, with none of them really standing out.
I hope you enjoyed this 13-week excursion through Interview's Web site. If this wasn't informative, accurate and balanced, then you didn't put your glasses on. I love Interview, true, but it's Web site sometimes leaves something to be desired. I don't normally go to magazine Web sites, anyway, and this exercise didn't really change my mind about them. In reality, I can get more information from other blogs, but this was a good experience, nonetheless.
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