The revamp has been a lengthy process spanning several months, involving design consultants and all staff members. Changes to structure, content and look were carefully considered within the context of the TL readership, editorial vision and brand positioning.
"To remain a leader in the women's magazine market and to grow, it's important for True Love to keep pace with the readers' reality, their expectations and aspirations," says Mahlaba. "The Black female demographic and psychographic has changed a lot since 1994 - our reader has moved assertively into the workplace and is in a much stronger position financially with higher expectations and far more choices as a consumer. True Love is the only magazine that appreciates the fusion of traditional and modern lifestyles and delivers that unique understanding of the 'Louis Vuitton-meets-lobola' lifestyle."
The subtle design revamp emphasises attention to the quality of styling, photography and picture editing, and makes a considered shift in the visual-text ratio to increase the sense of luxury. Editorial content has also been refined and expanded. Contemporary pages have been added, covering areas of interest from retail therapy to the best in fashion and beauty trends.
In a new regular feature each month, Mahlaba gets up close and personal with one of South Africa's movers, shakers and newsmakers. This month, she meets Albertina Sisulu.
Cover features offer readers a more voyeuristic and revealing look into different aspects of the cover stars' lives. With at least six dedicated pages, cover features will blend candid photographic and narrative insight with the high-glamour styling usually reserved for the fashion pages.
True Love's regular sections - covering fashion and beauty, careers, sex, issues, relationships, health, motherhood, food and "A Better You" - are all still there but, where appropriate, are tackled with a more positive and solutions-driven editorial approach. The 'At home with...' feature that shows the stylish homes of readers' favourite celebs has also been expanded to include décor advice, showing how to achieve the look.
The May 2006 issue of True Love is on sale from 12 April.
