The weekly was still reliant on the major stars of the earlier part of the decade such as the Beatles, and, as rock music supplanted pop and album sales overtook those of singles, NME lost ground to its rival Melody Maker, also published by IPC.
Together they assembled a new editorial team drawn from the ranks of the underground and independently published press, including Charles Shaar Murray from Oz and Nick Kent and Pennie Smith from Frendz.
[5] Encouraged by the test-marketing exercise Emap put the first issue into national circulation; over the next couple of months sales increased to above 100,000 and the publisher reached agreement with Logan to switch to fortnightly publication.
Journalist Ian Cranna became editor and Logan, in his role as editorial director, proposed a new magazine – "a well-produced, well-designed and well-written monthly with music at its core but with expanding coverage of the subjects that informed it, from fashion and film to nightclubbing and social issues".
[9] Initially working out of the Smash Hits offices in Carnaby Street, central London, and using the off-the-shelf corporate entity Wagadon, which he had formed for his business relationship with Emap, Logan published the first issue of The Face on 1 May 1980.
Featuring a logo designed by Steve Bush, with whom Logan had worked on Smash Hits, and a portrait by photographer Chalkie Davies of Jerry Dammers of the Specials on the front cover, this issue sold 56,000 copies.
[10] Sales levelled over the next six months, but a fillip was provided by alliance with what would become London's New Romantic scene via articles written by young journalist Robert Elms with photographs by Derek Ridgers, Virginia Turbett and others.
[12] The style pages of The Face meanwhile set the pace for the wider fashion world, particularly those produced by the Buffalo collective, led by stylist Ray Petri and including photographer Jamie Morgan.
In this period art director Phil Bicker, who had succeeded Neville Brody and Robin Derrick, actively pursued working relationships with young experimental photographers, including Corinne Day, Stephane Sednaoui, Nigel Shafran and David Sims, as well as stylists such as Melanie Ward.
Under Sheryl Garratt's direction with assistance from her successor Richard Benson and other writers including Lindsay Baker, Ashley Heath, Gavin Hills and Amy Raphael, The Face reflected the developments in club culture, fashion and what became known as Britart as well as musical genres such as jungle and Britpop.
By this time the magazine's art direction and design team of Stuart Spalding and Lee Swillingham were showcasing such emerging photographic talents as Inez and Vinoodh and Norbert Schoerner.
[19] Deluxe was conceived as a more sophisticated magazine for young men who were then being targeted with such "New Lad" titles as FHM, Loaded and Maxim, based on a proposal by Andrew Harrison, a contributor to The Face who Logan appointed editor.
[25] In November 2017, Thames & Hudson published Paul Gorman's The Story Of The Face: The Magazine That Changed Culture, with a foreword by Dylan Jones and contributions from Nick Logan.