A comparison of Rolling Stone magazine's last issue in its larger format (left) and its shrunken new issue, New York, last Monday. After more than four decades of standing out with an oversized format, the magazine will look like everyone else, starting with the October 30 issue out this week. - AP

NEW YORK (AP):

Rolling Stone magazine is shrinking with the times.

After more than four decades of standing out with a larger format than other magazines, it will step back and look like everyone else starting with the October 30 issue, due out this week.

The adoption of a standard format could boost single-copy sales and reduce production costs for advertising inserts such as scent strips and tear-out postcards. The magazine says any cost savings, though, will be offset by the inclusion of more pages and the shift to thicker, glossier paper.

Like other devoted readers, Eddie Ward, 35, said he will miss the old format, which was an inch (2.5 centimetres) taller and two inches (5 centimetres) wider. But, he looks forward to the change and might even buy a "more fashionable" bag to carry his belongings.

A theme of change

"For years, since I graduated from college, I have refused to buy a small messenger bag ... since it couldn't fit my Rolling Stone," Ward said. "I never wanted to crease the pages or put cracks in the cover."

Rolling Stone chose Barack Obama, who is campaigning for president on a theme of change, for the cover of the October 30 issue. By contrast, the last issue in the oversize format featured a cartoon of Obama's opponent, John McCain.

"Like the man we are featuring on the cover, for the third time in seven months ... we embrace the idea of change," editor Jann S. Wenner wrote in the new issue. "Not change for the sake of change, but change as evolution and growth and renewal, change as the kind of cultural renaissance that gave birth to Rolling Stone more than four decades ago."

Magazines constantly undergo redesigns - The Atlantic, for instance, debuts new sections with its November issue out yesterday. A few also have changed dimensions over the years, including TV Guide, which grew into a full-size format in 2005.