Dang! Another great and interesting magazines closing. What will I read?! Not US Weekly!

Oh that is sad! I am in Australia and could never really grab a copy unless at a fairly expensive Air Freight price, but still loved having a flick through at Borders. Beautiful photography & page layouts too, and it introduced me to that beautiful masthead typeface, Fling. A pity!

Oh no! I am SO disappointed. I also thought they were starting to find their voice and I’ve really been enjoying the most recent issues.

NO!!! This was my favorite EVER. I can’t believe it!!! (wailing and flailing)

NO! That is just terrible! One of my favorites too..

oh this is very bad news indeed. I too enjoyed their own angle and take on things…sigh.

What a bummer! I really enjoyed their photos.

I can’t believe it! I just sent my money in for a subscription. First H&G, now Blueprint, am I the only one left who enjoys paging through actual intelligently produced magazines?

This is sad, indeed! According to the gawker article they’ll be parlaying Blueprint content into their more successful MS Weddings mag. This surprises me since weddings are generally a one-time thing while home/lifestyle decor is eternal. Also, my bf would freak if I ever got a Weddings subscription!

damn. was just singing it’s praises to my momma. one of my recent favorites….

I really liked the look of Blueprint. It almost made up for the loss of the Martha Stewart Kids magazine, which had an even more beautiful design.

bummer… what do you think they’ll do for those of us who have subscriptions… do they do refunds?

That’s awful! I just added it to my public library’s subscription list. Guess we can enjoy a couple of issues.

WHHHATTTT!? Blueprint was great, though I am sure it as a fair amount of competition from Domino, which I am thankful is still around.

Oh noooooooo.
They’re combining it with Martha Stewart Weddings? I don’t want to get married! I just want Blueprint! And they just teamed up with Apartment Therapy. Phooey.

oh no! i’m heartbroken. blueprint was my fav magazine to receive every month :(

WHAT?!?!?!?! UGH. so so SO sad, this has quickly become my favorite magazine AND my husband just ordered me a subscription 2 months ago :(

Man oh man… Maybe we can roll that onto our already-existing MSL mag sub :(

Sad to hear… Blueprint was good to we letterpressers…

oh no! I was just starting to get into Blueprint and was going to get a subscription :(

Bummer! I really enjoyed Blueprint! They actually had affordable suggestions/options in there. Aww poop.

Oh My! I’m so sad right now!! :(
I had finally decided a few months ago on which mag to subscribe in this department and was always impatient to get my new issues… Now, I’m just so sad!! It was beautifully made too, as a graphic designer, I’m pretty difficult on the look of mags! :(

Anyone have suggestions of other similar mags I could subscribe instead? The most similar to Blueprint as possible… Craft? Domino? Make?

Gosh, I don’t want to have another one, I want Blueprint!!!! :(

I was just about to subscribe. Such terrible news!

NO! My heart goes out to their employees. I will miss them so much!

And I was just starting to get into it… I guess that was the problem? Too little, too late?

NOOOOO!! This is my most favorite magazine ever and I am so surprised that it is closing! This makes me so sad!!

I really was sad about H&G, but I’ve always felt kind of “meh” about Blueprint — I found it way too broad, I prefer a narrower/deeper focus. But it would have been nice to see if it would have evolved into something with more depth.

Sad…I’ve been subscribing since their launch. What a bummer!

This is awful! First H&G, now Blueprint…what will there be left to read? I think these publishers are being hasty. I mean of course, I don’t know the financial side of it…but what about making H&G come out 6 times a year instead of 12, rather than do away with it all together? Maybe MSLO could make Blueprint a quarterly publication. Sad state of affairs in the mag industry these days.

I really enjoyed Blueprint. I know I read some blogs that didn’t care for it, but I thought the photos and ideas were great.

I’m so disappointed – especially because the press release basically implies that twenty- and thirty-something women have no place in the Martha brand unless they’re getting married. Ugh!

Oh no! I was considering getting a sub next year because I’ve like the last few issues I bought. The Dec issue inspired me to buy ink stamps and decorate my wrapping paper this year. Tough, tough times for print media…

That’s a shame, I was just going to renew my subscription right after Christmas. Oh well, on to other magazines I guess.

I almost lost my breakfast. This sucks.

I’m so disappointed! I especially loved their broader focus of a lifestyle mag – a recipe, some fashion, interiors, things to do… it was like the best of Martha Stewart, all rolled into one. I loved it.

This is the worst news you could possibly tell me! What a shock! This is my favorite magazine by far. When Blueprint would show up in my mailbox, it would make my day. Sigh, good memories.

I have to admit that as a designer I only bought it to ogle the gorgeous layouts. The content never really wowed me.

This makes me sick:

“We believe Blueprint will be more sustainable if leveraged as part of the established Martha Stewart Weddings franchise. Both appeal to women at a similar life stage and we believe this strategy will allow us to better take advantage of the synergistic relationship between the two publications.”

Just because I am within the age to get married doesnt mean I want to read a wedding magazine to receive shelter tips. Last time I checked, you can build a home regardless of your marriage status. That seems quite stereotypical and narrow minded of Martha.

what a shame! this magazine was the perfect blend of interior design, diy awesomeness, urban charming lifestyle, and fashion.

Oh no!!!!!!! You’re kidding! I just can’t believe it. Grace, I felt the same way: when it started, I was a bit apprehensive about Blueprint but eventually I was won over, ordered a subscription, and now I look(ed) forward to getting the next issue. So, so sad…

crap. it’s so beautifully designed. and that font… so fabulous. don’t let the font die, blueprint. tears.

I suspect that if you’re a subscriber and do nothing you’ll end up with some wedding mag subscription. Yuck. I’m calling now.

It makes me sad that great home design magazines are shutting down, when so many crappy home design shows are proliferating on TV. It’s not fair.

NOOOOOOO! So disappointed. My favorite magazine recently by far. And today is my birthday :( Oh well.

I am sad for all who lost their jobs, but the one issue of Blueprint I read seemed so focused on high priced “stuff” that I didn’t feel it was for me. I am more of a DIY-type girl. (BTW, I think design*sponge hits a good balance between showcasing inspiring pieces and not being snobby about it!)

i was really starting to love BP! sad news as i just renewed my subscription last month. :(

the print industry is getting smacked around right now. i work at a newspaper (a little different, i know)and they’re laying people of willy-nilly. oh well, at least we’ll save trees!

I was crushed when I read the news, as Blueprint is one of my top two favorites. I’m only three months into my subscription, so I have no idea what will happen next. Martha, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do!!

Ohh bummer! I like it, I thought i kinda missed the mark, but it had beautiful photos.

While not a huge fan of the magazine overall, I will really miss Katie Hatch- I thought she had truly simple, unique and inventive ideas that you could build on with your own style.

i too am so very sad. boo.

You know, that’s too bad, I was excited to find something to subscribe to instead of Domino. Domino has been more an more of a disappointment with every issue, it started out with many more do it yourself style articles, and has gone to “where you can buy it” and ads…yuck.

bummer, I finally got around to getting a subscription last issue.

So sad! What’s wrong with keeping a young, hip mag on the stands for women who aren’t about to walk down the aisle? We have houses, too!

Ah, well, we still have domino and our design blogs.

Bummer- one of my new favs! It’s so sad in this day and age. Gossip mags seem to thrive (and there’s a new one everytime I look), but something made with care and quality (I always appreciated the innovative, yet clean layouts of Blueprint) has to fall by the wayside. Blueprint was definitely hitting their groove, and I appreciated the balance they found in covering a range of topics, with style. . . I suspect they’ll just send another Martha Stewart publication in it’s place rather than a refund (that’s what happened with Jane…). But merging this magazine with the wedding division sounds like an awful idea to me!

How very interesting – I didn’t know H&G was out of biz – I guess I haven’t scoured the news-stands in a while. I was, however, just looking at the magazines today at the supermarket and i was looking for Blueprint. The only magazine I subscribe to right now is Domino. I’m bummed about Blueprint, but I wasn’t entirely thrilled with it either. I just assumed it would make its way into a style that I’d eventually like.

What a disappointment. I agree that when Blueprint started out, the design was amazing but the content was lacking. In the past year, though, it was really coming together and was surpassing Domino as my favourite homestyle magazine. It’s pretty sad that a company with reach like Martha Stewart can’t make a go of such a great publication. I hope Domino is safe and sound, because these two magazines are my printed escapism!

This is terrible news. RIP Blueprint. I know I’ll be keeping my back issues for many years to come.

I’m going to miss bp in my mailbox …

man, that sucks, it was a great magazine with great style. it did set out to serve a new demographic, that is 20-something women interested in home and decor. being that all magazines are ad-driven, i guess the problem might have been that the 20-something demographic tends not to spend money on big ticket items for the home like furniture. they’ve got dwr taste but a target budget. what’s an advertiser to do?

Nooo! I asked for a subscription to Blueprint for Christmas!

wow, first i’ve heard of this, down in Australia. what happened? any announcement? although i couldn’t afford blueprint all the time, i do enjoy the few copies i have… will miss its presence.

I am sooo sad right now – actually its kinda sad that I’m so sad about a magazine (a bit ironic, I guess) but Blueprint pretty much encapsulated my life right now. I used to buy a stack of mags (Bust, Readymade, Nylon, Dwell, Martha, Vogue, ID, How) but I stopped buying all of them when I started buying Blueprint. I didn’t need to anymore, it held clever tips on everything I cared about within it’s pages.
I know some people didn’t like it’s wide berth of topics, but I loved its eccentricity. It definitely saved me money at the magazine racks! I can’t remember the last time a magazine affected my life as much (or at least the contents of my house and closet).
Yeah, it was a little aspirational some times, but we all need at little glamour and escapism in our lives sometimes. Although I have to say, they largely steered clear of the big brands in favour of independent retailers, and mixed a bit of low end and vintage touches here and there.
And it was just so beautiful. All that beautiful black type lying on so much creamy white-space *sigh*.

This sucks. Hard.

Blueprint was such a fresh magazine. I pretty much loved everything about it. From day 1 of my subscription (charter subscriber!) I devoured every page.

What will I read now? Domino? It’s going downhill. Dwell? Yawn! There’s literally nothing.

Bumsville.

No-No-No! I LOOOOOVE IT! SNIFFLES Please find a way to bring it back!

i am very sad to see Blueprint go for sure! however, i was quite miffed tonight to get in my mail a request to continue my subscription (dated 12/7). don’t they know they are taking money from people when they know darn well the magazine is closing? the same thing happened to me with Budget Living, and I paid the subscription renewal, never to see my money again (I think they ended up sending me Redbook as a replacement, but not really an even trade, now is it?). so wierd!

How disappointing! And why fold it into the Weddings category? After all, you only get married once (or twice), but decorating is forever.

HandG, Instyle Home and now Blueprint.
Sad very sad.

No!!! What a complete and total shame. Can we start a write-in protest or something?

So sad! Blueprint is such a wonderfully designed magazine on top of it’s great content. It will be missed.

This makes me so sad! This is the first magazine I have ever subscribed to as an adult! I love it! it will be combined with MS Weddings?!?! What’s that all about? I’m already married and if I weren’t I still wouldn’t buy it unless I was engaged. I think that sends a bad message to single women – as though they can’t establish a home as a single independent woman. How anti-feminist!

Too bad they couldn’t hold out a little longer, I’ve been reading the blog, but just saw the first print issue in my area in August at Lowe’s. I guess I have to take the subscription off my Christmas wishlist.

Part of me wonders if it’s the demographic. Personally I love flipping through magazines, the tactile experience. However, I wonder if most women in the Bluelines demographic don’t prefer to get their fix free digitally.

This is the ONLY magazine I look forward to getting in the mail. It is the perfect mixture of everything while other mags dealing with beauty, DIY, decorating, health, etc. etc. are boring and repetitive.

Blueprint is such a nice balance and it is beautifully designed.

Where can we send out pleas for a re-consider?

How many people would actually subscribe if they knew they couldn’t pick it up at the store anymore?

It’s all been well said above, but I want to join the chorus because maybe the powers-that-Martha-be will take stock of our comments. Blueprint was just hitting its stride and it had a little of everything in a tasty, intelligent way. I had just re-subscribed and bought a gift subscription for my sister’s housewarming as well.

So sad. I can’t even believe it!! It really is the first magazine I’ve been this excited about in a long time. I would pre-pay for a 10 year subscription if it would make a difference! It was beautiful.

Good riddance. It morphed into yet another Domino clone and deserved to be euthanized. The graphic design and layout of the magazine rocked, though. To be honest, once I discovered Design Sponge I stopped buying all of my domestic shelter mags except for House and Garden (R.I.P.) and Dwell. Is that bad?

Okay, this sucks. I really didn’t like the tone of the etiquette stuff in this magazine, or the attempts to teach me tired vs. inspired slang, but I loved what they were doing with DIY and the article on PurlSoho, for instance… that whole issue was so great. This stuff is not going to fold into any other MSL mag well. So upset! Give me back my magazines!

are you serious? i just suscribed! i better not get US weekly as compensation, which happened after Premiere magazine folded.

NO! I can’t take it anymore! That was my favorite!

very very sad: i’ve been really loving my copies of blueprint in the mail.

I know I’m a little late in the thread but let me suggest taking a look at House Beautiful. Someone gives me a gift subscript every year and they’ve been getting better and better. Still a tad staid but this month, leafing through last night, it seemed pretty good.

so sad! and a complete shock! you’d think martha could cough up the money to fuel the one “good thing” she’s part of!

Oh no! How sad! I’d only just subscribed and had only received my first issue :(

judith said it- it almost made up for the loss of marthakids! man i’m really bummed out now!
rats and double rats!

SO SAD! I love Blueprint. As a graphic designer I got it more for the layouts than the content but it was so great. What a sad year! First Jane, then H&G and now Blueprint! Am I the only one that still loves actually flipping pages rather than browsing online?

hmmmm…I’d be interested to know how they came to this decision as I had heard sales of the MSL mag were very low as well as the MSWeddings. Everyone I know reads and BUYS Blueprint. Sounds to me like they are using the popularity and devotion of readers to save a older sinking ship. Face it MSL has been poo for at least 3 years running. I will miss Blueprint. It gave me so much giddy excitement every month. Much like what I used to feel when buying MSL 1999-2005. Do they do ANY marketing research over there? So sad. I live in New Zealand and would have it shipped here that’s how much I love the mag. sniff sniff.

Ew, folding Blueprint in with a weddings mag? While it’s cool if that’s your thing, I have zero desire to be a pretty pretty pricess for a day. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want a nice home. Nice, Martha Stewart-super gross and kinda offensive.

That sucks! I just sent in my subscribed a couple weeks ago. I enjoyed this magazine and even combed ebay for the issues I’d missed. What’s next? Dare I even say it? Domino???

More closings tk before the year is out, I’m afraid. It is indeed a tough time to be in publishing.

yeah, i am very confused by the ‘synergy’ between shelter/diy and weddings. it seems like it would be a better fit inside the regular martha stewart living mag if anywhere???
and all of these magazines closing shop? i suppose with rising energy costs all around it can’t be great for production or distribution…and yes, many resources will be salvaged as a result.
grace, looks like a great opportunity to grow a bit and satiate the design sweet tooth we look to those paper publications for! you can do it…{actually you already are}!

I think I’m probably one of the only people who think it’s a smart move on MSLO’s part. It’s probably a pretty big win in terms of focused advertising, and it’s focusing it’s other content towards it’s core readers the way they really want it – Online.
MM

And while it’s also true that people still love paper, when you have a certain number of resources, going electronic makes sense.
MM

Nooo! I can’t believe it! It was such a highlight to pick up the new copy on my way to work and sift it for ideas. Domino sucks. If either should have folded I would have thought it would have been Conde Nast’s snobby zine for sure. Alas.

It just goes to show how tough it is to recover from a bad launch. I purchased a three issue trial subscription and didn’t continue because it was just plain unappealing. Based on everyones comments, it folded just as it was really starting to take off.

I really enjoyed that publication! Being in the magazine business for year and understand its difficulty but that was a good format and very interesting. Didn’t really give it enough time to catch on….!

Damn!

Since I was a young girl I have loved magazines. As I matured in a high tech world, I appreciated my magazines even more. Front cover, back cover, colorful pictures in between, like an old friend, no suprises, dependable. 14 yrs. old or at 42 yrs. old, a familiar ritual of the tactile pages, and the visual candy store at my finger tips.

If any spinoff would have failed I thought for sure it would have been O at Home. I just don’t get it at all!! Grace, help us out here, who the heck is the target demographic for that!!

While I didn’t subscribe to Blueprint, I did appreciate the magazine’s “can do” attitude. Most of the glossy’s are not about doing, they are about shopping, buying, spending and connecting to a world that most times bares absolutely no resemblance to your own.

I too was interested in Blueprint from Issue 1, it seemed to struggle at first, but was coming into it’s own for sure. I just sat down tonight and enjoyed my January/February issue before catching up on my designsponge fix…… tonight! It was a great issue, even gave a shout out to etsy!
What I find odd is what about their readers that are already married, why would I want to buy a wedding magazine when I’ve already had mine? I have no use for a wedding magazine. Now Martha Stewart Living, that makes a little more sense…they had some cute ideas for the December issue….but weddings? really??
I also agree with the comment above about receiving Redbook as a replacement for Budget Living (RIP), even my husband found that funny. It seems there just isn’t a big enough market for those few of us that are interested in DIY living (that doesn’t resemble a country craft fair) but aren’t ready for Redbook. To me, there is a big gap there. How can we team together to be heard on this?? Anyone?

I JUST subscribed to Blueprint and already received 2 issues! Anybody know when it’s closing down? :(

This makes me so sad – Blueprint was fun, do-able and realistic in regard to pricing of items….so sad. I bought/have every issue and was going to subscribe. I shoulda known that they would kill it, just like Budget Living mag (which I till mourn…)

Dang it, there are no mags left now!!!