Redesigns

Inside JCK Magazine's Redesign

JCK Magazine has been the industry authority on the jewelry business for the last 148 years. This trade magazine, which was launched back in 1869, recently finished a fresh new redesign. We had the chance to speak with JCK Magazine Creative Director, Peter Yates, about JCK's new look.

See some of the images from May's redesigned issue below and read on for Peter's answers and more images from the redesign after the jump!

SPD: What were the major changes in your redesign?

Peter Yates: The instant I set my eye on JCK I knew we could bring this 148 year old publication back to its rightful place as the industry leader, authority and creative catalyst of the jewelry industry. My challenge to myself was to exceed the expectations of our consumers. We achieved this by designing a dynamic new logo and elevating the magazine's creative to a more luxurious, engaging and sophisticated level.

I'm very appreciative of JCK's editorial and management team's support of my ability and experience assessing brand DNA, architecture and pacing of publications. As a result, my team and I were able to reinstate an ad free feature well, craft a new modular page grid and introduce a custom family of fonts and reorganized the editorial pacing from front to back. We've also introduced high profile beauty, fashion and still-life photographers, models and illustrators and reimagined the presentation of jewelry to create timeless, memorable and iconic images.

SPD: Did you run into any obstacles in refreshing the magazine?

PY: Given the importance of JCK featuring the newest jewelry collections, industry news and events we strive to make our content and imagery as current and relevant as possible. That means pre-planning the heck out of the publishing cycle. We're constantly shooting and designing on deadline but we could not be happier with the quality and energy you see as the result.

SPD: What is your favorite part of the redesign?

PY: My favorite part of working on any publication is assessing the brand DNA, how consumers use the product and then imagining how we can give it even more value and creative excellence. I'm particularly excited how we are reimagining, styling and shooting products and models so consumers and advertisers can continually be surprised and inspired. Some favorite standouts have been model Zhenya, naked and draped in $18 million of diamond jewels for our June cover and model Aline Weber subconsciously channeling an Avedon moment on the May JCK cover.