Comments on: Popular Woodworking Magazine February 2012 Now Available

By: Rob Fisher

Rob Fisher — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:45:31 +0000

I hate to complain, as generally PWW magazine is of good quality, but this issue falls way short in many areas. It all starts with the cover. The yellow titles just scream for attention, but with the green border it just yells “CHEESE HEADS!”. In addition my mailing label covers a portion of a title. And the photo, I’m not sure what happened with the cover photo but it is very unbalanced, dark in the top right, light in the lower left. Almost all of these issues were more elegantly solved with the previous cover layouts (back through April 2010)
Inside the new theme is immature IMO. The main problem is that it is applied inconsistently. The new line that is setup across the top of the regular columns is unbroken until the 5th regular column (A&M) where a photo bleeds off of the top of the page. This, by the way, makes the photo look cutoff or incomplete. In the 6th regular column (I can do that) the line is broken with a photo that does not bleed off of the edge. This inconsistency continues throughout the regular columns. The features columns also lack consistently in font size and type for the titles, different treatment of the first page, some with full bleed photo, some with full bleed photo and text body and some with just photos and text body. In general the inconsistency makes for a distracted and poor read, taking away from the articles themselves. Again all of this was dealt with much more eloquently in the previous layout theme, which was much much simpler but eminently more readable.
My final complaint is about the content itself. I fear that the articles are leaving the well established lineage left by the previous editor and heading to the more common power tool favoritism of most other magazines. The hand tool renaissance that Chris pushed for must remain a significant element or this magazine will be no different than any other. Perhaps it is just that I had come to expect an article or two from Chris, in most every issue, which had inherent in it his bias toward hand tools. I look forward to how the new editor deals with this issue.

By: John Cashman

John Cashman — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:08:07 +0000

Thanks Megan. I’d sign up in a heartbeat. I hope we can “convert” existing subscriptions when the time comes.

By: Megan Fitzpatrick

Megan Fitzpatrick — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:44:12 +0000

Hi John,

Not yet – but we’re working on it – please stay tuned! (And I’d bet someone will blog about that as soon as it’s available…)

By: John Cashman

John Cashman — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:37:14 +0000

Megan, is there such a thing as a combination print/digital subscription? I still like having my print copy when it’s new, but like to have a digital copy in the longer run.

By: Megan Fitzpatrick

Megan Fitzpatrick — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:33:08 +0000

Hey – you got the special issue!! OK – not really. Send me your mailing address and I’ll send you a new and correct copy (megan.fitzpatrick@fwmedia.com)

By: kgoold

kgoold — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:29:15 +0000

I received mine in the mail last week, and the magazine re-printed most of the articles in the same magazine, so there are about four articles that are printed twice in the magazine. just wanted to make sure you guys knew. not sure if its just mine, it could have been a single mistake with the machine.