THE WISDOM:

Many women's magazines-especially in the shelter category-serve as wish books for readers. They spark to the ideas presented and dream about what it would be like to live in the homes they see. But even in idealized settings, readers find practical ideas they can put to use in their own lives.

HOW WE GOT THERE:

One client wanted to build a concept home that would both reflect reader wishes and dreams, yet incorporate practical ideas for modern living. We designed a survey of their subscribers to explore experience with and ideas about this type of home. The goals were to guide structural specifications (like the number of bedrooms, the importance of an outdoor entertainment area); but more than that, we designed questions to elicit readers' sense of the right mood for this dream home.

ACTION STEPS:

This gave editors a clear vision of how to design the house, so they could convey to architects and designers the necessarily specifications. But more, the findings also gave editors a way of writing about the dream home in magazine articles that would capture readers' imagination.