The One About Lonny

Lonny Magazine officially debuted - and it's WONDERFUL. Not only does it have great things in it, but many of those great things link to the web, and the great things go on for days (or pages...195 of them to be exact). There are a few advertising pages, but they're limited, and what does appear in these pages is relevant to the reader. They're created one feature that spans 35 pages! Here's a little glance, but you can check out the whole magazine right here, or head over to Michelle Adams' blog (who launched Lonny with business partner Patrick Cline).

A few of the contributors and focuses of the features in Lonny are a result of the slow (or not so slow) death of print magazines. Both Kate Townsend-Simpson and Deborah Needleman's homes are featured in Lonny, and they worked as an editor, and Editor-in-Chief of domino respectively - before that magazine was shuttered. It has the distinct feeling of being a heart-felt, and hard-won collaboration beginning and ending with those who love shelter magazines, and the magazine format in general.

Simpson's Dining Room

Needleman's Dressing Area

The fact that you can literally shop right out of the magazine makes a HUGE impact as well. If you scroll over something you like, a box pops up, and links to the source. So convenient for readers...even better for the products featured. It's like the world's best, and most well-designed advertising.

For instance, Simpson's bathroom features these beautifully monogrammed hand towels...if you scroll over them you will see that you can have them too - from Leontine Linens, and if you want the wallpaper, well it's Waverly Light Foot Mural Document. Easy enough for buyers to get sucked in...

The magazine features everything from interiors (the obvious focus) to clothing and lifestyle. There is the inevitable feature on "going green," and the topic of trends (both fashion and interior) - such as "Ivy League" and "Spotted" make it light and fun. The magazine features everything from refurbished, antique typewriters, to easy, inexpensive ways to spruce up your home. Lonny even suggests using shoe rack to house beautiful shoes in the open - "turn your storage into unique stylish displays." Interesting...

Lonny features great ideas that stand alone, but also feature the ideas of influential people in the design business. Eddie Ross for instance. Previously seen on HGTV's Next Design Star - he has an easy style that is compiled of a few expensive investment pieces and classic, personal finds at flea markets.

Eddie Ross' display of china, glassware and silver pieces

The magazine also provides a great collection of "5 Tips For..." throughout. They come from the editor, featured designers, and contributors to the magazine. Eddie Ross provides his "5 Tips For Entertaining with Style," which makes perfect sense while reading the article focusing on his beautiful home. It's the best way to intergrate "amazingly put together, could never do it alone" inspiration from incredible designers, with "easy to accomplish for us everyday humans" information.

In general, this magazine provides an amazing amount of information and inspiration (for those people who have the money to redecorate anything), and it's jam-packed with resources. All in all, it a great response to all of the magazines that have closed in the last little bit - Southern Accents, Cottage Living, domino. This offers the same caliber of work - but it's less expensive to create (and less expensive to read - i.e. FREE). My one and only complaint for the editors is that someone should have been less worried about how the magazine looked and felt, and more worried about typos. Oh well - I'm sure they'll have that down-pat next go-around.