Business publications are redesigning.

Bloomberg Businessweek emerged as a redesigned, relaunched weekly news publication last week. Editor Josh Tyrangiel and Creative Director Richard Turley should be proud. While there’s nothing particularly innovative about a print magazine — or for that matter, the new design — it is, in fact, a clean and smart delivery of business news.

The new design is classic and simple. It’s a bit of a cliché in editorial design circles and as old as Methuselah to say, but still rings true: “Design is best when you don’t know it’s there.” It’s the way I was trained 25 years ago as a young magazine art director.

I applaud its ability to create an engaging, accessible experience for readers through multiple entry points, without appearing overly cluttered. Everything about the publication is timeless, from its crisp, Swiss-style grid and mixed use of column formats to its abundance of Helvetica bold. Think clean, basic lines and you’ll get the idea. A long time ago a mentor once told me, “Restraint is an important principle of design.” To successfully design and package the written word, is to remove any and all capriciousness or frivolous elements from the page. Design is meant to deliver content; it’s a matter of form serving the function.

That thought still rings true for the presentation of all media, be it an e-reader, like an iPad or Kindle, or iPhone (or any of the other devices for which Mr. Jobs is currently building distractions into our lives). The idea is to engage the reader, inspire them and hopefully, build an enduring relationship and sense of community. Business journals and magazines place the written word first and foremost, and design recedes into the background. Content truly is king.

For other magazines, like “shelter publications,” it’s more about the photography or ambiance, the experience. In every instance, the presentation of content — content being many things, either image or word — must align with the needs of the audience. In the case of Bloomberg Businessweek, the editorial team has done a remarkable job of meeting that audience need.

While the April 26th article in the Times points to the culture dissonance between Bloomberg L.P. and the newly acquired Businessweek staff, there’s clearly something special happening here.

New York Times: Bloomberg Businessweek

The Harvard Business Review also just redesigned and debuted the new look in their January-February 2010 edition. Editor in chief Adi Ignatius stresses the need to bring a more modern and accessible magazine to readers. That was definitely the goal. The traditional academic journal design has been disposed; the new look has more entry points, more energy, and is closer in feeling to Fast Company, in fact.

It’s worth noting that he also plants a significant stake in the ground for print media, stating, “The redesign reflects our strong belief that print is still the best medium for conveying the big ideas in HBR.” Of course, along with the redesign, they have also reconsidered hbr.org, and worked to create a better integration of the two properties.

HBR

My early experience in magazine publishing tells me this is all a good sign. Redesigns are a symbol of hope. In this case, it would seem a good indication that publishers are realizing that the print publication is not only still viable, but critically important, so long as it is supported by an substantial online component and in some cases, a half dozen other channels.

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I canceled my subscription to The New York Times today. Actually, I plan to continue delivery of the weekend editions. How could I give up my Sunday morning coffee and an everything bagel as I casually prioritize and peruse my favorite sections like The Week in Ideas, Metropolitan, Arts, Real Estate, etc.?

I stopped weekday delivery because simply put, the newspaper stopped coming. Here’s my morning: I normally wake up about 6:30, walk my dog and get coffee at a little newsstand (that does not carry The Times), get back to make my son and daughter breakfast, get ready to leave by 7:45. My daughter is off first; my son has to be at school by 8:05 and from there, I’m on my way to the office.

Increasingly, the delivery has been coming later and later and on few rare days, not at all. So it has not been uncommon to arrive home at the end of the day, with the unread “day-old” news laying at my doorstep. One would think that in such media-challenged times, delivery of the newspaper to the buying, paying customer would be a matter of priority, as operations go. And before I go bashing The Times, I suppose it’s true that I may just have a delinquent delivery man. But if that’s the case, then at least a few thousand other people in my neighborhood are having the same customer experience. Distribution of the product to the paying customer is still the newspaper’s concern.

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I sometimes think that we’re living in the age of customer non-service.  Some of my most off-putting experiences lately came while at Borders where I was ignored, even waved aside by sales people biding their time and sharing personal stories with coworkers. I simply wanted to know how to find a particular section.

Starbucks and Modell’s Sporting Goods are also great examples of customer non-service. Modell’s operates about 140 affiliate stores in the Northeast, but if the customer service in any of their stores is like the one on East 86^th, take a tip — don’t waste your time. Sales people are impossible to find, not knowledgeable or experienced and generally, they lack any semblance of passion or enthusiasm.

As for Starbucks, I never understood this business model. They actually found success in an experience that takes longer, creates lines and charges twice as much for coffee. Granted, the custom “barista-made-and-served java” may play to the personalized, luxury-purchase desire of many consumers, but I thought customer service was supposed to be about convenience and value. Their vernacular is even confusing (wait — small is now “tall?”), I don’t like the long lines and frankly, the coffee is too strong for me. For $1.00 at my local coffee shop or deli, I get less of a fuss and the same injection of sugary refreshment with caffeine.

One of the absolute best experiences in retail customer service and attention comes from — surprise, surprise — Apple. Every time I’ve entered the store, the representatives are cordial, attentive, knowledgeable and passionate about the products. Appointments can be made online, process areas like technical support have been reinvented and made to be highly efficient for the customer. Upon entering the store, one has the feeling that they’ve entered a small shrine or museum, not a retail outlet. The design is fresh, the ambiance welcoming and the representatives, all friendly and eager to assist. What’s not to like?

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We may live in an era of online consumerism, but the brick-and-mortar, in-store purchase is still a critical piece of the brand experience. I won’t be ordering coffee online anytime soon and I doubt that I will be going back to Starbucks or if I can help it, Modell’s.

And The Times, well, maybe that’s a different story. If the consumer media habits of my 14- and 17 year-old children are any indication, their troubles are just beginning. The least of those problems, although not one to be overlooked, would be the prompt delivery of the still-relevant, tangible, flagship paper product to their paying customers. The print-only model may be dead, but the integrated, multi-channel model still needs to hit on all cylinders and for newspapers, the print component is still the most important.

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