Last Sunday The Los Angeles Times debuted West magazine, which replaces The Los Angeles Times Magazine. LAT news design director Michael Whitley was kind enough to send along some pages and this Q&A with Times Creative Director Joseph Hutchinson, who designed the magazine.

It is not a redesign, it's a complete rethinking and reinvention of the magazine. The name West was chosen because it is a historic name at the Times - it was the magazine title in the late 1960s and early 1970s - and better reflected the editorial mission of the new publication.

Joe used Font Bureau fonts. Zocalo for headlines, Antenna for labels, captions, etc., and a new face for the body text named Kis Light. He completed the work in about six weeks.

Q. How did the design of the magazine evolve?

It was important to me that the design be unique and reflective of the editorial mission. Rick (Wartzman, the West editor) wanted a magazine with personality, a magazine with a unique voice, and most importantly a magazine that is rooted in California.

The editorial content was the inspiration for the design. I wanted a design that has a voice, a personality that is unique but could also have as much range as the stories we are telling. Like the features themselves, the design is a mix; it can be bold, it can be elegant, but it is always sophisticated. It is crisp but has a sense of flair.

Q. What is different about the use of photography and illustration in the new look?

The previous magazine was text heavy and would fit photographs in around the type. So at times they tended to be small with full pages of type on all sides. Our readers told us they love photography, so we are trying to use photographs to capture the imagination of the reader that picks up West. It is, after all, a magazine so the reproduction is much better. We want to take advantage of the printing quality to improve what we do with photos and illustrations, to do things you cannot do in a newspaper. It's one of the things that makes West different than the daily broadsheet.

Q. It seems like you're using a few pictures really well rather than just running everything you get.

We're editing the photographs very aggressively. That is on purpose. But we're still going to do photo essays. We are going to do unique fashion photography. We're running gallery photography. So it is quite different from what we've done in the past.

Along those lines, we want to work with the best photographers, and illustrators, in the world. The first issue included work by Damon Winter (LAT staff photographer), Annie Leibovitz, Kurt Iswarienko, Gary Kelley, Owen Smith, David Plunkert, Edel Rodriguez and Philip Burke to name a few. The design is built on the use of really beautiful and engaging visuals. We won't have to do a lot of tricks with the type because the visuals and the story content are so strong.

Q. The typography is all new....

It is all new. The type is elegant and sophisticated like the Los Angeles Times, but at the same time different than the Times - like a cool younger cousin. The fonts are a little edgy but still sophisticated. They have interesting details. They give the magazine its own personality. But it still feels like it should be a part of the paper.

The typography in the previous magazine was quiet - almost apologetic - for the great content. We felt like the volume needed to be turned up. We wanted the type to be confident. We're elevating the content of the magazine, and we wanted fonts that reflect that.

Q. Any other thoughts?

Above everything else, I wanted the magazine to be easy to read. Everything about the design comes down to engaging the reader. It was important to pace the content. So as you flip through it is very organized, but there are some surprises. I think that is what will keep people coming back to it week after week, they know what to expect but will still find that surprise.

More pages after the jump.