Playboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world's best known brands. In addition to the flagship magazine in the United States, special nation-specific versions of Playboy are published worldwide.
The magazine has a long history of publishing short stories by notable novelists such as Arthur C. Clarke, Ian Fleming, Vladimir Nabokov, P. G. Wodehouse, and Margaret Atwood. Playboy features monthly interviews of notable public figures, such as artists, architects, economists, composers, conductors, film directors, journalists, novelists, playwrights, religious figures, politicians, athletes and race car drivers. The magazine throughout its history has expressed a libertarian outlook on political and social issues.
Playboy's original title was to be Stag Party, but an unrelated outdoor magazine, Stag, contacted Hefner and informed him that they would protect their trademark if he were to launch his magazine with that name. Hefner and co-founder and executive vice-president Eldon Sellers met to seek a new name. Sellers, whose mother had worked for the Chicago sales office of the short-lived Playboy Automobile Company, suggested "Playboy."
The first issue, in December 1953, was undated, as Hefner was unsure there would be a second. He produced it in his Hyde Park kitchen. The first centerfold was Marilyn Monroe, although the picture used originally was taken for a calendar rather than for Playboy. The first issue sold out in weeks. Known circulation was 53,991. The cover price was 50¢. Copies of the first issue in mint to near mint condition sold for over $5,000 in 2002. The novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, was also serialized in the March, April, and May 1954 issues of Playboy magazine.
The logo, the stylized profile of a rabbit wearing a tuxedo bow tie, was designed by art designer Art Paul for the second issue and has appeared ever since. A running joke in the magazine involves hiding the logo somewhere in the cover art or photograph. Hefner said he chose the rabbit for its "humorous sexual connotation," and because the image was "frisky and playful."
An urban legend started about Hefner and the Playmate of the Month because of markings on the front covers of the magazine. From 1955 to 1979 (except for a six month gap in 1976), the "P" in Playboy had stars printed in or around the letter. The legend stated that this was either a rating that Hefner gave to the Playmate according to how attractive she was, the number of times that Hefner had slept with her, or how good she was in bed. The stars, between zero and twelve, actually indicated the domestic or international advertising region for that printing.
Since reaching its peak in the 1970s, Playboy has seen a decline in circulation and cultural relevance because of competition in the field it founded — first from Penthouse, Oui (which was published as a spin-off of Playboy) and Gallery in the 1970s; later from pornographic videos; and more recently from lad mags such as Maxim, FHM, and Stuff. In response, Playboy has attempted to re-assert its hold on the 18–35 male demographic through slight changes to content and focusing on issues and personalities more appropriate to its audience — such as hip-hop artists being featured in the "Playboy Interview".
Christie Hefner, daughter of the founder Hugh Hefner, joined Playboy in 1975 and became head of the company in 1988. She announced in December 2008 that she would be stepping down from leading the company, effective in January 2009, and said that the election of Barack Obama as the next President had inspired her to give more time to charitable work, and that the decision to step down was her own. “Just as this country is embracing change in the form of new leadership, I have decided that now is the time to make changes in my own life as well,” she said.
The magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary with the January 2004 issue. Celebrations were held at Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, and Moscow during the year to commemorate this event.
The magazine runs several annual features and ratings. One of the most popular is its annual ranking of the top "party schools" among all U.S. universities and colleges. For 2009, the magazine used five considerations: bikini, brains, campus, sex and sports in the development of its list. The top ranked party school by Playboy for 2009 was the University of Miami.
In June 2009, the magazine reduced its publication schedule to 11 issues per year, with a combined July/August issue and on 11 August 2009, London's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Hugh Hefner had sold his English Manor house (next door to the famous Playboy Mansion) for $18 m ($10 m less than the reported asking price) to a Daren Metropoulos and that due to significant losses in the company's value (down from $1billion in 2000 to $84mil in 2009) the Playboy publishing empire is up for sale for $300 m. In December 2009, they further reduced the publication schedule to 10 issues per year, with a combined January/February issue.
Style: is a fashion and lifestyle magazine published in Singapore by MediaCorp. Each month, Style: publishes a magazine addressing topics of fashion, beauty and lifestyle magazine.
Started in 2002, Style: is positioned as the fashion guide for independent and sophisticated Singapore women.
In 2004, a couple of entrepreneurs found a glaring oversight in the bridal market – where was the coverage about destination weddings and romantic honeymoons? They hunted online, in bookstores and bridal boutiques and found there to be a serious information gap in the industry. The Editor in Chief was interested in having a destination wedding herself and could find little information about it, which was quite troubling since there must be other brides looking for the same information. The ladies decided to take matters into their own hands. They researched and educated themselves on all things travel and romance related and in time, Destination I Do Magazine was born.
Destination I Do Magazine fills a need for this growing niche by providing essential information for couples considering a wedding away from home or romantic honeymoon. To expand the options the couple might consider, each issue highlights a variety of potential destination wedding locations including:
* Continental US
* Hawaii
* Caribbean
* South Pacific
* Europe
* Cruise Weddings
* Theme/Adventure Weddings
* Other International Destinations
Couples who dream of a romantic wedding on a tropical island beach, quaint Italian villa or pristine mountaintop need expert assistance to see their dreams become reality. We provide trustworthy information about the destinations as well as all things wedding and honeymoon related including:
* Fashion
* Bridal Registries
* Invitations & Stationery
* Photography
* Wedding Planning
* Beauty & Fitness
* Jewelry & Accessories
* Etiquette
* Floral & Décor
Deliciae Vitae: for men of the world In 1983, aged 18, I approached one of Europe’s leading publishers of adult material with my idea for a stylishly superior men’s publication. I knew there was a market for an international magazine that was classy, luxurious and sexy but which was fundamentally not about porn. I mean if that's all you want you can get it anywhere, right? They laughed me out of the building...
Another 18 years on, the culture of photography and publishing has come a very long way. Having worked as a fashion designer for much of the intervening period I've been struck how much fashion, and particularly fashion photographers have embraced sex and sexuality in advertising and editorial fashion shoots for men and women.
Ultimately, as the fashion industry knows very well, it's the image - the way someone (or something) is photographed - that makes them desirable. The medium - as they say - is the message. Which explains why certain fashion photographers have become as famous as film directors.
Deliciae Vitae is an independent bi-annual publication, of deliberate, unashamedly luxurious excess. Autonomous and unconstrained in a world of ever more increasing conglomerate fashion.
In this, its first issue, beautiful women from across the globe are photographed by the very best fashion and art photographers to give pleasure to the most sophisticated of palates. But such sophistication is indulged just as much by fine writing. So look out for features on the eternal sexual chemistry of champagne, the elitist joys of supersonic travel or the return of the ultimate pop playboy Bryan Ferry. Deliciae Vitae is not meant to appeal to everyone. But then, you're not everyone, are you?
Wallpaper* The stuff that surrounds you. Design Interiors Fashion Art Entertaining and Lifestyle
WWD Magazines set the trends the world follows, engaging fashion, retail and beauty power players with compelling issues that offer the first look at what’s next in global fashion.
TAR Magazine is about art and aesthetics with a social awareness.
TAR magazine is a biannual published internationally each fall and spring out of New York.
It has featured work by Jonathan Lethem, Juergen Teller, Ryan McGinley, Joan Didion, and Mathew Barney.
While maintaining a fine art perspective, contributors explore contemporary, environmental, and political issues on a global scale.
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s. Also known as Cosmo, its current content includes articles on relationships and sex, health, careers, self-improvement, celebrities, as well as fashion and beauty. Published by Hearst Magazines, Cosmopolitan has 58 international editions, is printed in 34 languages and is distributed in more than 100 countries.
History
Cosmopolitan began as a family magazine, launched in 1886 by Schlicht & Field as The Cosmopolitan.
Paul Schlicht told his first-issue readers that his publication was a "first-class family magazine", adding, "There will be a department devoted exclusively to the interests of women, with articles on fashions, on household decoration, on cooking, and the care and management of children, etc., also a department for the younger members of the family."
Cosmopolitan's circulation reached 25,000 that year, but by March, 1888, Schlicht & Field were no longer in business. John Brisben Walker acquired the magazine in 1889, and E. D. Walker, formerly with Harper's Monthly, took over as the new editor, introducing color illustrations, serials and book reviews. It became a leading market for fiction, featuring such authors as Annie Besant, Ambrose Bierce, Theodore Dreiser, Rudyard Kipling, Jack London, Willa Cather and Edith Wharton. The magazine's circulation climbed to 75,000 by 1892.
In 1905 William Randolph Hearst purchased the magazine for $400,000 (approximately $11,000,000 in 2007 prices) and brought in journalist Charles Edward Russell, who contributed a series of investigative articles, including "The Growth of Caste in America" (March, 1907), "At the Throat of the Republic" (December, 1907 - March, 1908) and "What Are You Going to Do About It?" (July, 1910 - January, 1911) and "Colorado - New Tricks in an Old Game" (December 1910).
Other contributors during this period included Alfred Henry Lewis, Sinclair Lewis, A. J. Cronin, David Graham Phillips, George Bernard Shaw, Upton Sinclair and Ida Tarbell. Illustrators included Francis Attwood, Dean Cornwell, James Montgomery Flagg and Harrison Fisher.
With a circulation of 1,700,000 in the 1930s, Cosmopolitan had an advertising income of $5,000,000. Emphasizing fiction in the 1940s, it was subtitled The Four-Book Magazine since the first section had one novelette, six or eight short stories, two serials, six to eight articles and eight or nine special features, while the other three sections featured two novels and a digest of current non-fiction books. During World War II, sales peaked at 2,000,000.
The magazine began to run less fiction during the 1950s. Circulation dropped to slightly over a million by 1955, a time when magazines were overshadowed during the rise of paperbacks and television. The Golden Age of magazines came to an end as mass market, general interest publications gave way to special interest magazines targeting specialized audiences.
Helen Gurley Brown arrives
Cosmopolitan's circulation continued to decline for another decade until Helen Gurley Brown became chief editor in 1965 and remodeled the magazine as New Cosmopolitan.After countless denials by other publications, Brown finally landed an opportunity to put a unique perspective on a tiresome magazine meant for both men and women. The magazine was renamed back to Cosmopolitan in 1967. In the early 1970s, Cosmopolitan became a women's magazine. The magazine eventually adopted a cover format consisting of a usually young female model typically in a low cut dress or bikini. The magazine focused on young women and published articles that openly talked about sexual issues.
Her uproar of a magazine was not her first publication dealing with sexually liberating woman. In fact, she first wrote a book in 1962, Sex and the Single Girl, which instantly became a best seller. Identical to her magazine Cosmopolitan, this novel focused on a sexually fearless single lady who dates many men. Fan mail begging for Brown’s advice on many subjects concerning women’s behaviorisms, sexual encounters, health, and beauty flooded her front door after this book released. Brown sent the message to the books fans stating how a woman should have men complement her life; not take it over. Enjoying sex without shame was also an empowering message she incorporated in both publications.
In Brown's early years as editor, the magazine received heavy criticism. The magazine ran a near-nude centerfold of actor Burt Reynolds in April 1972. The issue created great controversy, propelling Cosmopolitan to the forefront of American popular culture at the time.
In April 1978, a single edition of Cosmopolitan Man was published as a trial, targeted to appeal to men. Its cover featured Jack Nicholson and Aurore Clément. It was published twice in 1989 as a supplement to Cosmopolitan.
Cosmopolitan today
In recent years the magazine and in particular its cover stories have become more sexually explicit in tone as well as covers with models wearing revealing clothes. Kroger, America's largest grocery chain, currently covers up Cosmopolitan at checkout stands because of complaints about sexually explicit headlines. Walmart, Wegmans, and other retailers do this as well.
The UK edition of Cosmopolitan, which began in 1972, was well known for sexual explicitness, with strong sexual language, male nudity and coverage of such subjects as rape. In 1999, CosmoGIRL!, a spinoff magazine targeting a teenage female audience, was created for international readership. However, it ended print production in December 2008.
Real-world stories are recounted ("Real Life Reads") first-hand by survivors, safety tips for risky or dangerous situations (such as living alone) accompany stories of hidden risks, health myths and urban legends are debunked. Sections such as "Health Check", which has featured articles such as "Cosmo Gyno" and "Your Body: What An Abnormal Pap Smear Can Mean", are there not only for entertainment value but to help women understand their bodies and even recognize possible health problems. Less serious regular features include "Guy Confessions" (pages where men share embarrassing stories or shameful things they've done); celebrity gossip; "You, You, You", which contains a wide variety of fun facts and advice.
The magazine currently features topics such as sex, makeup and hair tips.
Cosmopolitan has readers in more than 100 countries and offers editions, both published by Hearst and/or a licensing partner in 34 languages, including Finnish, Spanish, Korean, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Portuguese, Swedish, Polish, Hebrew, Estonian, Romanian, Georgian, Russian, German, Italian, French, Greek, Malaysian and Indonesian. It was banned in Singapore until recently.
Cosmopolitan has traditionally been a women’s magazine discussing such topics as sex, health, fitness and fashion. Recently the magazine is sharing their focus with men’s issues as well. “Cosmo for your guy” is featured in every issue with exclusive advice for the men. Cosmopolitan also recruits men as a part of their staff to answer their female readers' burning questions they just can’t ask the men in their lives. The “Guy Confessions” add men’s embarrassing mishaps to those submitted by women.
It should be noted, that when the season's issues stack up chronologically, the spines of the magazine reveal a typical Cosmo-guy lounging on your shelf.
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