Sunday, August 14, 2011

Standard Magazine...The NEW Interior Design Magazine


Standard Magazine is an Interior Design Magazine unlike any other. Flip through a couple pages of its premiere issue (September 2010), and you'll quickly see you're in for a satisfying treat.

Like many publications, Standard has well-written, interesting articles and many enchanting photographs. But in its overarching point of view, Standard Magazine is blazing its own, unique trail.

In Standard Magazine's view, sustainable homes should be simply . . . standard. All the ideas in the Magazine are green and ecologically friendly as a matter of course. This outlook gives the Magazine the freedom and license to place its emphasis elsewhere: on top-notch, inspirational, and beautiful Design.
Standard Magazine is an Interior Design Magazine created by Designer and author Kelly LaPlante, who taught the Design industry that "green is a standard, not a style." After twelve years of pioneering eco-Design in sustainable homes, LaPlante says it's "time to change the conversation and to raise the bar again."

"After more than a decade of pushing my industry toward sustainable homes," LaPlante says, "I've decided that the time has come to really treat green like a standard-and that means not making a big deal about it anymore."

The Magazine "won't be hitting you over the head with our morals," she says.

Raising the bar means that, as far as Interior Design goes, being green - using recycled materials and pieces in clever, appealing ways, for instance -- is a basic, minimum requirement. All the components -- eco-friendly paints, wallpapers, fabrics, carpets and more -- are easy to obtain and affordable - and therefore should be used, period..

As Kelly says, "Doing the right thing, and doing it beautifully, is absolutely expected of everything and everyone we feature."

Author of ?cologique (2008), LaPlante says, "Our manifesto is that Design should be captivating, timeless, built to last and, of course, produced in a way that honors people and the planet. This will be reflected in each issue, on every page." And reading through Standard's maiden issue quickly confirms that: this is an Interior Design Magazine that's packed with great ideas, superb writing (one writer used the phrase "mouth-hanging-open immobility" to describe a recent favorable impression she had), and captivating photos.

Standard's high standards extend beyond sustainable homes: no trees, for instance, are harmed in its publication. This Interior Design Magazine is primarily published online, as opposed to on paper.

Just as the underlying concept behind Standard is to focus on beautiful Design (while making sustainable homes in the process), each issue of the Magazine itself will be created as a readable, pleasurable experience.

Standard's style is also collaborative - its staff is interested in hearing tips, ideas, and feedback. Standard wants to help like-minded people find inspiration and beauty.

As columnist James Saavedra says, "We all deserve a life infused with beauty and style."

The pages of Standard exude a certain joy and, flipping through its articles, you might just start feeling rather joyful yourself. This Interior Design Magazine does not overly concern itself with decomposition of recycled materials - instead it communicates bold beauty and creativity.

There seems to be no better way to close an article about this Interior Design Magazine than to quote its writers' final sentence in announcing its entrance into the world: Welcome to the Post-Green Movement!