{"id":18247,"date":"2011-03-21T09:11:49","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T07:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=18247"},"modified":"2011-03-21T09:59:31","modified_gmt":"2011-03-21T07:59:31","slug":"crush-6-is-more-less-is-more-design-still-inconsistent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/crush-6-is-more-less-is-more-design-still-inconsistent\/","title":{"rendered":"Crush! 6 is more ‘less is more’, design still inconsistent"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I have written about Crush! 1<\/a>, Crush! 2<\/a>, Crush! 3<\/a>\u00a0and Crush! 4 and 5<\/a>, the food and wine digital magazine, and\u00a0had not yet got around to reading \u00a0Crush! 6<\/a>, when\u00a0a follow-up\u00a0e-mail arrived\u00a0last week,\u00a0requesting me to read it. \u00a0The publishers must be able to\u00a0track who has read the latest issue, and who has not, in sending out reminder e-mails.\u00a0\u00a0I was pleasantly surprised that great improvements have been made to the presentation of the content.\u00a0 Overall, it is evident that the Crush! designers are starting to understand that ‘less is more’ design is more attractive and efficient in getting one to read what is presented.<\/p>\n

The cover page is the best of the six issues, with a beautiful salmon dish photograph, and because the Crush! designers have finally learnt that one cannot place text on top of visuals, a fundamental design rule in making copy readable.\u00a0 The salmon colour has inspired a strong orange masthead, making it striking and attractive, and making one want to\u00a0read the content.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Advertising support has shrunk to Old Mutual, with two ads, and Fairview, with a ‘talking’ ad.\u00a0\u00a0 Pack recognition on the ‘Essentials’ page is far improved, the brand names being far easier to read, with typed names alongside, and this also applies to the ‘Quaff Now’ page.\u00a0 Yet it fails on the ‘High Five’ page, on which the labels are barely legible.\u00a0 The child-like\u00a0banner for the ‘Tomato and Veg pasta’ recipe\u00a0below the ‘Essentials’ feature attracts attention away from the featured products on the same page, a ‘conflict of interest’.\u00a0\u00a0 The Fairview<\/a>\u00a0feature is introduced through an illustration, which appears to look similar to the design of its ad, but uses two light blue banners that are barely legible, and one of these is obscured by a goat.\u00a0\u00a0 It is not immediately clear that one must click onto each of the flags\/banners, to get a full overview of Fairview.<\/p>\n

I loved the page by Meeta K. Wolff, whose name I have seen on Twitter, but about whom there is no introduction.\u00a0\u00a0 The photograph of her ‘Carrot and Red Soup with a hint of cumin’ makes one want to eat the page!\u00a0 I am happy that editor Michael Olivier has accepted our suggestion to use a selection of talented food bloggers locally and even from overseas (Wolff lives in Germany).\u00a0\u00a0 The Creative Pot blogger Marisa Hendriks also has a double page, previously that of Andy Fenner\/JamieWhoSA?, the same irritating shaking flashes containing the links to her five stories on Vanilla Rose ‘Pana Cotta’, ChilliJammer, Mushroom and White Rock Flatbread, 5 Ways with Beets, and the Wild Peacock Food Emporium.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The ‘Breakfast with Brad at Bistro 1682’ is very stylish-looking, the most stylish article I have seen\u00a0of all in the Crush! issues, and the restaurant deserves it.\u00a0\u00a0 The photography of the egg dishes is\u00a0excellent.\u00a0\u00a0 Following this is the rather pedestrian and boring looking ‘Quick and Delicious’ Monday – Sunday recipe suggestions, a complete contrast to the style and quality of the two pages that had preceded this section.\u00a0\u00a0 The ‘Four ways with Salmon’,\u00a0with food preparation and styling by Sophia Lindop, and photography by Russel Wasserfall, is excellent, the salmon colour used to its best photography advantage.\u00a0\u00a0Luisa Farello is a clever food stylist too, and this is the third Crush! issue\u00a0for which she has worked.\u00a0 Her Formal Dinner page, with Weltevrede MCC, looks beautiful and good enough to eat.\u00a0 Pick ‘n Pay has a ‘Green Zone’ page for the first time, and is intended to\u00a0reflect its environmental conscience, including the SASSI code fish that they sell.<\/p>\n

Five unknown food bloggers\u00a0are ranked\u00a0in a ‘Rate Your Recipe’ feature, and these differ per issue.\u00a0 It is unfortunate that the writers are not introduced.\u00a0\u00a0 An oddly designed feature on the Robertson Small Hotel uses the block number system, and one has to click on a\u00a0series of these to get a good overview of the featured product, many readers probably opting out before opening each block.\u00a0 An interview with Boets Nel of De Krans also uses the block method, and\u00a0I doubt if readers will open all 16 of these blocks.<\/p>\n

The messiest and poorest page in the issue is that by David Cope, The Foodie blogger, whose rambling on about a Bachelor Party\u00a0is boring and not easy to read on a dirty-looking red-and-white check background, with black and white photographs, an absolute no-no when writing about wine or food.\u00a0 His story on the Coffee Revolution is far better in presentation, but again is so superficial in only featuring Truth and Origin, when there are so many exciting new coffee suppliers opening, including the Haas Coffee Collective<\/a>, and is therefore not comprehensive.\u00a0 Another messy page is the ‘Fine Print’ book review page – eight books fight for attention, and one does not comprehend any of them, as the page is too busy.\u00a0The classified ‘Crushifieds’ page is much simpler and more readable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rudi Liebenberg, Executive Chef at the Mount Nelson Hotel, is featured, also in a classy design,\u00a0but there is almost no photography of his food at Planet Restaurant, and too many black and white photographs of Rudi and his chefs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The feature does not inspire one to eat at\u00a0the Planet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Less is more’ is a good design principle, and fewer, rather than more, design bells and whistles will make Crush! close to perfect.\u00a0 I am happy to see how the ‘bells and whistles’ have been reduced drastically over the six issues.\u00a0\u00a0 Now all Crush! needs is greater design consistency throughout the whole magazine – one could think that each feature has been designed by a different designer, not what the magazine needs!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have written about Crush! 1, Crush! 2, Crush! 3\u00a0and Crush! 4 and 5, the food and wine digital magazine, and\u00a0had not yet got around to reading \u00a0Crush! 6, when\u00a0a follow-up\u00a0e-mail arrived\u00a0last week,\u00a0requesting me to read it. \u00a0The publishers must be able to\u00a0track who has read the latest issue, and who has not, in sending […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,266,21,19],"tags":[4505,3073,10550,32378,10545,6813,417,270,10546,6403,10462,3945,10548,8148,10547,2788,1326,8439,957,9074,2071,1612,6874,7531,8153,6291,8732,3078,1587,10544,10549,32373,6155],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t