If I like it, it's got to be doomed, eh?

So I'm reading Bluelines this morning and this comment caught my eye:

This isn't a reply to this post, but to the announcement that the print product has been cancelled. I am truly, truly sad.

So I clicked off to find the announcement, and while there was nothing on the site, Crain's NY has a piece today from AdAge.com, "Blueprint Folding After Less Than 2 Years." It would appear that the strategy will be to aggressively focus on younger-than-30 women via the Web and bridal magazines:

"After much discussion and analysis we have made a decision to produce Blueprint as focused special interest issues within the home category, which we will introduce to brides-to-be through our Martha Stewart Weddings magazine," Susan Lyne, chief executive of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, said in a staff memo this morning. "Bluelines, the Blueprint blog, will continue and we plan to grow Blueprint digital content across our websites."

On one hand, this makes a lot of sense given the audience they're going after. (And I guess it doesn't affect their plans to hold the big online-only January Jumpstart Project in partnership with Apartment Therapy.) It's practically a case study in building brand loyalty among different audiences via different media vectors.

On the other: despite my digital bona fides, there's something about flipping the pages in a magazine that I sometimes prefer. I'll miss Blueprint. And now, at this point, I'm thinking any media outlet I gush about had better start getting nervous, as I'm apparently the kiss of death. (I apologize in advance, Bryant Park Project. I'll try to keep my continued delight over you under wraps.)

Comments

[Siobhan]

I thought of you when I read this this morning.

[drunken monkey]

Me too. And then I thought of me, because I like Blueprint!

[Jecca]

I was so bummed when my friend Amy e-mailed me with the news. Despite my dissatisfaction with the first two issues, Blueprint is now my favorite magazine. And I really don't like the Martha websites, so while I'll still get the Bluelines feed, I won't be visiting the site much otherwise, I imagine.

On the upside, I get MS Weddings, too, so I'll get those scraps.

[Laurel Krahn]

Crap crap crappity crap.

I really like Blueprint. Argh.