Beginning of the end for Trade only Magazines?

Every month I get a stack of free, to the Trade magazines that you won’t find on the newsstand. I like getting these but they do tend to pile up on my desk. Many are good resources for images and ideas so I hate to pitch them out.

Recently Contract Magazine, an architectural and interior design magazine has added an on-line edition of it’s print magazine with a good number of back issues also posted. There are a couple of really nice features about the interface they used. First, it’s not a pdf. I like pdf’s but downloading huge ones takes too long. Contract features a fly-out menu where you can jump to any section in the magazine and it’s set up just like the print table of contents. There is a simple forward / backward arrow toggle at the upper right to advance pages. Any page can be shared via email through clicking an envelope icon at the lower right. The issues usually include floor plans which in the on-line version you can zoom into and pan around. There are ads, but rather than being static pages, they are animated.

The current issue has a couple of nice projects featured including the new Red Bull offices in London. You can check it out here.