I Form Magazine Celebrates 25

When Bonnier Publications started up i Form magazine in 1987, the audience was completely different from today’s readers – women interested in a healthy lifestyle. “I Form was a magazine for both men and women: The happy childless couples who jogged in the park and had lots of time and money to spoil themselves,” says Editor-in-Chief Karen Lyager Horve. It wasn’t until 1999 that a decision was made to turn it into a women’s health magazine “and we kicked the men out,” says Lyager Horve.

Though the concept and audience of the magazine has changed over time – Lyager Horve was there at the start, although she took an 11-year hiatus, coming in as editor-in-chief in 1998 – the magazine is still published in fairly identical editions in all four of the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – as it was from the beginning.

“Basically we believe that women in our four countries share the same dream of becoming the fittest and happiest version of themselves,” she says. “But during recent years we have introduced more national pages because the recipe for good health, especially nutrition, has been influenced by very strong national trends, like GI and LCHF in Sweden and high protein diets in Denmark.”

In January of 2012, a new help section for readers was launched, featuring national experts – for example in Sweden Olga Rönnberg, currently well-known in Sweden as one of the trainers on TV4’s Biggest Loser, and nutritionist Fredrik Paulún, whose popular books are published by Bonnier Fakta; in Denmark it’s Michelle Kristensen and Christian Bitz, both known from TV.

“We’ve also made more local changes in the news pages and features than before,” Lyager Horve says. “As a cross-border magazine we only have to make a few smart but necessary changes.”

The magazine will be celebrating its 25th birthday with a special big anniversary issue in mid-May. Although it’s not really i Form-style to be nostalgic, says Lyager Horve. “Our focus is now and the future, so most of our articles in the 25th anniversary issue will point forwards. But we have identified some of the subscribers who have been loyal to us during all those years. One from each country will get a sweet surprise from us and tell her story in the magazine. Our Danish veteran is a race car driver. Every night for 25 years she has been reading her i Form before she falls asleep.”

One of the challenges for the magazine is bridging the gap between readers who have long been dedicated to a healthy lifestyle and the “beginners.” It’s difficult to keep both happy in one magazine, Lyager Horve says. Despite this, the magazine still succeeds in making a difference in its readers’ lives.

“I am very proud every time I meet a reader who tells me that I Form has changed her life – or perhaps even saved it!” she says. “Former couch potatoes who learned to run 5 km or even marathons by following the training programs in the magazine. Women who have learned to eat smarter and better because of iForm and found bunches of new energy and perhaps a  healthier weight. Women who feel better about themselves and their bodies because we have taught them to set up a goal and go for it. When we manage to give the reader the feeling of ‘yeah, I am so tough!’ then we have succeeded.”