This is the story of a tremendous human, editorial, graphic and technical adventure: the launch of the Beaux Arts website.
Founded in 1983, Beaux Arts Magazine is France’s leading magazine for the visual arts and culture, as well as the magazine most widely read by collectors. The magazine currently has a circulation of 62,000 and over 34,000 subscribers.
Alongside the magazine, Beaux Arts Éditions publishes works on current exhibitions and fine books, as well as the quarterly Grande Galerie, co-published with the Louvre. In all, the brand markets around a hundred publications a year.
On August 26, 2016, we received an email from the Beaux Arts Magazine team inviting us to a meeting. At that point, the magazine had no website, and the editions had a succinct boutique. In other words, everything had to be done.
At the heart of content
We are quick to affirm our desire to place the business model at the heart of our thinking. As a first obvious step, the vast majority of content will only be available to subscribers.
Each type of content is therefore imagined in a free version and a subscriber-only version: news briefs, large-format articles, features, slideshows, top stories, etc. We give pride of place to images, which can be viewed in very high zoomable definition. Particular attention is also paid to the placement of advertising formats, in the ever delicate balance of satisfying advertisers without detracting from the content. Finally, each article is an invitation to discover not only other articles, but also products that can enhance the content consulted, be it books, dedicated special issues, or an article in an issue of the magazine that can be purchased in print or 100% digitally.
Trust as mantra
It was a first for Upian to be given the responsibility of developing an entire online purchasing system. We’re used to working on high-end graphic design and front-end development projects, but have rarely been involved in the back-end development of a press site. And even less so in the development of a store.
So, why this choice? Because we wanted Beaux Arts to be a boutique with a high-end shopping experience. We wanted to control the entire chain and ensure an optimal fusion between reading content and purchasing publishing products. Indeed, we are convinced that the complicity between the medium and the reader is an important element in triggering the act of purchase. And that this complicity depends to a large extent on adherence to an approach, a long-term commitment to a medium in which the reader has confidence.
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An example of creating complicity? From now on, subscribers will be able to access issues as a digital library compatible with desktop, tablet and mobile devices. In addition to receiving the magazine at home, each new issue can be consulted online from the day of publication. If this applies to you, visit our website to explore the possibilities offered by the new My Account area.
Not yet a subscriber? Come and give it a try!
Obviously, the aim is to open Beaux Arts up to new audiences. This is materialized by regular publication of free content and a brand new 100% digital subscription formula.
PS: If you don’t recognize the triptych that illustrates this article, here’s one clue for you.