New York Times, Boston Globe Media Readying New Magazines

The New York Times Company is planning two upcoming magazine launches, both related to homes.

Design New England: The Magazine for Splendid Homes and Gardens is being launched this October by Boston Globe Media, which is owned by the Times company.

A bi-monthly magazine, it will be available at newsstands, mailed to high-income homeowners in greater Boston, and distributed to designers and architects.

Design New England will target an upscale reader with a focus on individual designers and architects. Its closest competitor is probably New England Home, another glossy magazine of nice houses that launched last year.

The editor of the new magazine, Jill Connors, has worked at This Old House, American HomeStyle, Decorating Remodeling and The New York Times Company's Weekend Decorator.

Art director Jenna Talbott joins Design New England from business-to-business magazines CIO and CFO.

Talbott says Design New England will publish a mix of existing photography and commissioned work. Photographers who are currently working with the magazine include architectural shooters Brian Vanden Brink and Peter Vanderwarker.

In terms of design, Talbott says the new magazine is aiming for the luxurious look of a coffee table book, including full-page color photographs and good use of white space. "We're trying to let the photography take center stage," she says.

Talbott says she is seeking portfolios from architectural and interior photographers in the Boston area, who can contact her at jtalbott@globe.com.

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The other upcoming launch is Key, The New York Times Real Estate Magazine. Key debuts Sept. 10 as a Sunday newspaper insert and will initially be published twice a year.

The growing Times magazine franchise already includes Play, a sports magazine, and T, a style magazine, in addition to the regular weekly magazine.

Like the other Times magazines, Key will have an artistic and literary bent. Its will be geared toward a national audience and will have a different look and feel than the newspaper's existing real estate sections.

"It's a totally new design. It's a new typeface; it's a totally new look. It's very modern looking," says photo editor Kira Pollack, who is also the photo editor for Play.

The magazine will commission original photography ranging from studied architectural photos to fun, dynamic portraits, she says. The art director for the magazine is Dirk Barnett.

Pollack wouldn't reveal what's on the debut cover of Key, but mentioned a few of the photographers she is working with. The magazine will include work by Angela Strassheim, Horacio Salinas, Harf Zimmermann, Gillian Laub and Cass Bird.