It's a Magazine, It's a Book, It's a Mook

• By: Ellen Lupton
• | Thursday May 24, 2007
• | 1 Comment(s)

The magazine Make, featured in Design Life Now, bills itself as a “mook,” a hybrid between a book and a magazine. The smallish paperback size recalls Popular Mechanics from the 1950s. The publishers of Make are using the same format concept for their new magazine Craft:.

Why the book format? Nostalgia aside, these bookish little publications feel good in your hands. They also use resources efficiently. Make is not alone. Martha Stewart has a tiny food magazine, and the fashion journals bring out miniature editions of their full-scale issues. These compact little magazines feel more like books.

In the age of blogging and on-line shopping, the book is going strong. Perhaps people are less likely to throw away a book—another eco advantage to the small size. These bookish journals feel more serious and less ephemeral, and they don’t take up much space.

Design within Reach recently sent out a catalogue that compiles a year’s worth of products into a….book. Although I always glance through DWR’s normal-sized direct mail pieces, they ultimately end up in recycling. Not so with the beautifully designed book version. Call it a bookalogue?