Open

I just read the first issue of Open, and first impressions - and like I said when I saw the dummy is that in terms of sheer design it blows the pants off all the other newsmagazines in the country. As far as content, I was a bit iffy about the cover story but some of the other stories were excellent.
I will not take a call on long-term viability, as these are tough times for the media and even more established and richer brands are up shit creek, but I do feel that Open will force a hell of a lot of other products to get their design acts together.
Mint aside, most Indian newspapers are horribly laid out, in fact what surprises me about Mint is that its mother-publication despite so many changes is still 'confused' in terms of layout, but no non-lifestyle magazine has a layout that can currently touch Open. I hope thay can maintain design integrity (with ad-sales schmucks always ready to sacrifice editorial at the altar of money), in fact this is a sincere hope.
Give it a look-see, I may not agree with everything inside but I repeat it is very agreeable on the eyes.
PS: Maxim just shut down their UK edition.