A Condé Nast publication, bon appétit, the name of the magazine itself sets a fun, cheerful and positive tone. Its literal meaning, ‘good appetite’ or ‘I hope you enjoy your food’ is the broader vision of the publication, which is communicated through the magazine. Even though its a bit cliché, I think it is successful in being a significant name for a food & drinks magazine. With sassy and clever headlines the magazine maintains the interest of the readers. It almost triggers the urge of the readers to prepare the recipes covered in the issue. The headlines are candid avoiding summaries and said in the first person as though the magazine issue is in a conversation with the readers.
The cutlines and captions are short, with a sense of curiosity that the reader can relate to, making them go through that recipe an open the magazine for a quick look.
The labels are pretty straightforward and I guess keeping them direct is in sync with the entire minimalist and clear look of the magazine for the reader to easily navigate through the magazine.
But on the other hand, the section names used are very creative and intelligent. They are as follows: HOME, AWAY, BASICALLY and ETIQUETTE. Their names seem to be broad allowing the magazine to cover a diverse range of stories. The section names not being straight forward is what makes them open-ended, having multiple interpretations. The story titles within each section are simple, direct but not dull giving the reader an idea about the story. The way the sections are organized too gives the reader a sense of context and settings making the recipes and drinks presented relevant to the topic of that issue.
The bylines and credit lines are usually in the following manner:
Photographer:_____ | Food Stylist:______ | Property Stylist:_____
It is a 1-2 liner, mostly placed and the right bottom corner of a page at least for the image on the cover. For all the recipes presented in that issue, the magazine does something known as the ‘sourcebook’ or a ‘recipe index’ which is an informative piece on each recipe presented in that section. The sourcebook can be considered as an Index or a Bibliography which is at the back of books/papers.
Promos and refers are newsy/conversational and short. It is sometimes the coverage of another magazine of Condé Nast or one of their sponsors either Nescafe or another famous food brand. At times the issue also covers a promo of a small scale event done by the magazine at a specific location such as NewYork City, Chicago for the readers to attend the events.
The overall language of the magazine is also a derivation of the topic the magazine is showcasing in that issue. The tone and the mood are often a byproduct of the kind of recipes presented for example if it’s ‘The Holiday Issue/Thanksgiving’ many dessert related drinks and recipes are covered. The magazine tries to align the issue topic to the season of the year so that the readers experience the mood. The narratives of the stories are not long but short and witty. The editors have done a good job of making the magazine insightful with thoughtful captions and headlines. On the whole, the language is light-hearted but equally influential and plausible.
