Via Jason Kottke, an analysis of the evolving design of The Economist (the print version).
It’s worth noting that the physical redesign carried some subtle but not insignificant touches from Economist.com into print. (The Web site relaunched in fall 2000, the color version in spring 2001). Not that it was admitted as such, of course, but for an example, take a look at the blue boxes, which debuted online first.
I do love Ecotype and always wished we could use it online. The Economist.com logo, which was designed before the Ecotype revision, used a bolded version of a display typeface that more closely resembles Ecotype than its predecessor.
The use of Officina as a headline font, on the other hand, is too proletarian for my tastes relative to the rest of The Economist; the font is everywhere these days and makes the headlines feel generic. A more customized version would have been more appropriate. It is better than the old Frutiger typeface, though.
While I worked for Economist.com I went from having a passing interest to being a devout reader, and now that I don’t work there anymore, I never miss an issue. I don’t doubt that the current magazine design has something to do with my continued enjoyment.