Take at peek at some inside pages after the jump.
One of my favorites is the cheeky and intelligent Monocle - at once a reader's magazine and a visual buffet. A broad range of topics are presented cleverly with clean information graphics, sometimes retro photography and quirky illustration. Every issue provides surprises. I can't wait to turn the page.
I received a complimentary subscription to Lotus magazine after I bought my first Lotus (the yellow one). What a pleasant surprise. Graphically, it's bold and clean like the numbers on a classic Formula One car. There's plenty of automotive porn: profiles of cars (new and vintage Lotus, naturally), professional drivers, even a car parts portfolio. All that plus cheeky style and culture stories. In all, it's racy in a mod way.
To begin research for the World's Fair issue, associate AD Chris Skiles and I spent over a week combing through digital archives. This included Flickr collections, fan sites, city municipal archives, UW special collections, the Museum of History & Industry and the Seattle Public Library. The library had the most interesting images and ephemera, in large part because they have so many publications scanned. I would lose hours reading the original press book discovering things like the projected weather for the year and the fair's brand guidelines.The first PDF I sent to my editor and publisher had 23 images, ranging from archival favorites to illustrator ideas to all-type solutions and even recreations of original souvenirs. Sometimes I send sketches, other times I send PDFs that are more like mood boards. It's a jumping off point to find out what angle we'll approach with the issue.
]]>With so many ideas of how to approach the set of 4, we did a private office poll. The cover with the fashion expert in a black dress was something I printed off just before I hung 14 covers on the wall. I didn't think it had a chance and it was a top vote getter. I've been surprised by how many men and woman have picked that as their favorite of the four.We reduced the 14 to about 8 or 9 and by the end of that day we had 6 favorites. That didn't stop us from throwing in another new image into the mix ("just to see") as the days proceeded but three days before going to press we had it down to 5. Until that point I had only defended one image strongly -- the Pacific Science Center -- and was happy to hear all of the office opinions. On the day of press I felt that I knew what the best set was and I decided against the illustration cover. I thought using all images (2 black and white and 2 color) would feel more coherent.Though the selection process was so much about the art, I didn't spend a lot of time on the typography until the final days. We knew we wanted a banner on top and that we could run just one bold message. From the beginning I wanted to use the same type on each cover but I figured it would be impossible to keep it all aligned the same way, or even for the logo to be in the same color. By the time we got to the final five covers I figured out a way to keep all of the elements in the exact same position. It felt like a small, personal victory.Obsessive Design Fact: Not only are the borders, banners, logo, type and colors exactly the same, each image is multiplied with the same hit of color.
I find myself picking up Popular Mechanics more and more. The book is organized is such a beautifully complex way but still manages to feel simple. I love what they've been doing with covers. Using a simple small centralized image and then assaulting the surrounding real estate with type and color. The covers always feel like they have movement; like they're leading you somewhere exciting.
IL magazine--every issue is a gem and they are highly coveted by the design staff at New York magazine. I don't understand a word of it--but don't really need to--to be entertained/fascinated by it. Special shout-out to their charting abilities. Unparalleled!
More impressive than 2009's smart editorial overhaul, or the savvy redesign, the consistently amazing illustration and photo selection, the unexpectedly wonderful covers, the quirky theme issues, the hypertextual touts encouraging you through each issue, or the thorough research and clarity of presentation, is that Businessweek have somehow managed to get a massive and diverse audience (even designers!) to read business arcana on a weekly basis.
I love Garden & Gun...so much I could eat it.
It's elegant without trying to be something that it's not. The design and photography is all really well crafted. And reading it reminds me why I appreciate all the oddities of the South.