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Jo Flynn discovers that B’s bland cover disguises the magazine’s

packed pages.

B magazine arrived on my desk and the front cover reminded me so much of

an inflight magazine that I expected to be confronted with pages of duty

free and the offer of a British Midland watch.

I can, however, understand the look B is trying to create. A young Cosmo

sprang to mind. I felt the minimalist front cover used the wrong choice

of model - she’s pretty but she didn’t present the more dynamic,

in-your-face attitude I was expecting.

New, Fresh, Bold, Smart and Fantastic it isn’t. It is, however, packed

(so much so that you’re left feeling rather exhausted) with plenty of

weighty features.

Apart from a feature on Drew Barrymore, others include an interview with

Jack Davenport, alias Miles (the one everyone fancies) in BBC2’s This

Life, a piece entitled ’everyone does it’ about masturbation, an ’I had

a threesome’ interview plus pages of fashion, gossip, travel, advice,

cookery, a questionnaire, a ’men confess’ page and more - see what I

mean when I say it’s exhausting?

Many of the features are interesting and witty. The fashion was

encouraging as it showed cheaper, middling and expensive options for the

summer’s essentials.

B’s layout is a godsend for advertisers. A well art directed ad will

positively jump off the page as the layout of the articles is text

intensive.

The headlines are juicy but I couldn’t be bothered to wade though the

endless unappealing looking type.

B has potential. The target market is 19- to 24-year-olds and,

although I’m 24 and wouldn’t go out and buy it, I would probably read it

cover to cover at the dentist.

Overall, B- rather than a B+.