November 3, 2009
Magazine of the week: Eureka
The Guardian continues to hold the position of best-designed UK newspaper, but is beginning to face some competition at last from The Times. Following its Neville Brody-led redesign three years ago, the paper has appointed a number of new designers to its team including design editor Jon Hill and art directors Alex Breuer and Matt Curtis.
Eureka is the new monthly science supplement that has just launched, featuring a crossover newspaper-magazine design by Curtis.
It shows an attention to detail and undertsanding of editorial pace that remains rare in British newspapers, which are too often put together by sub-editors working to templates. Here, content is intelligently crafted using combinations of text and diagram, sticking to The Times typefaces.
Light and dark backgrounds are used to good effect, as are details like this little diagram:
There’s also space for more magazine-like openers, such as this below…
…which turns to a spread of text and information explaining the sources of research funding.
Like the main section of The Guardian, it gives over a spread to a single image, above, and also has strong infographics, below.
Like a less dense version of Wired, Eureka makes great use of all the visual elements available to the designer, combining them in a publication that is well put together and modern while avoiding being over-designed. Defintely one to watch.
UPDATE: see the whole issue here; next issue out Thursday 5th Nov.
UPDATE II: Things To Look At has some more images.
19 Comments
Comment on November 4, 2009 by Tom O'Quinn says:
How can I get one of these in Los Angeles? Looks great and very inspired.
Comment on November 4, 2009 by Kate says:
Do you know which issue of the Guardian did/will this appear in?
Comment on November 4, 2009 by jeremy says:
Err… it doesn’t appear with The Guardian, but with The Times. And the next issue is out today, Thursday 5th Nov.
Comment on November 4, 2009 by Tweets that mention magCulture.com / editorial design -- Topsy.com says:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Daniel Hertzberg, Robert Newman. Robert Newman said: "A less dense version of Wired": Eureka, a beautiful new science supplement to The Times of London. (via @magculture). http://bit.ly/2eP2Ud [...]
Comment on November 4, 2009 by uberVU - social comments says:
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Friendfeed by Zoban: magCulture.com / editorial design – http://magculture.com/blog…...
Comment on November 5, 2009 by Tweets that mention magCulture.com / editorial design -- Topsy.com says:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Erin Biba, Jeremy Leslie, Francesco Franchi, Megan M Williams, Christy Sheppard and others. Christy Sheppard said: UK's The Times' new monthly science magazine "Eureka." Can't wait to see one here! (via @magculture) http://is.gd/4NkEK [...]
Comment on November 5, 2009 by Mark says:
Lovely stuff
Comment on November 5, 2009 by Kate says:
Apologies, meant Times.
Comment on November 6, 2009 by Graham Black says:
Mmmmm, the illustration on the cover looks familiar. Maybe they saw MASA’s illustration on Polymaths in the autumn issue of Intelligent Life!
Comment on November 6, 2009 by Jon Hill says:
Jeremy, thanks for the Eureka post. It’s worth crediting a few other people on the Eureka project: Matt Brown, deputy design editor; Matt Swift, graphics and David Lowe, designer and illustrator.
I’d like to think The Times is alongside if not over taking the Guardian’s position of best-designed UK newspaper. I haven’t seen anything of creative note come out of The Guardian since its Farringdon Road days. But then I’m biased…
Comment on November 7, 2009 by Rebecca says:
sorry im going to have to stand firm against that smug tory rag, the times, as they slice trees down in order to reposition themselves cameron style as the paper of the environment. GO THE MEDIA!!!
the main section looks like the mail without the balls, the features section looks like a trade magazine, the sports section looks like a local spanish sports paper, the weekend sections pinch from everywhere (new york for the magazine, old guardian design for the review, and well, lets not even go to the car crash of the travel/food/?? section, whatever thats called.and eureka is ANOTHER Wired rip off. albeit one printed on improved newsprint. if i see another charticle, i will KILL SOMEONE by the way. though in fairness i can see why it has been featured on the hallowed ground of magculture.
maybe when you have a few original ideas you can start competing with other well designed publications, but if all youre doing is poking around in the rubbish bins of other papers and magazines then the finished result is only going to look like a confused sum of the results, and a bit needy.
keep at it though boys! keep knocking those trees down! oh, and proving to us all that you really honestly honestly dont read the guardian as you come in to work each morning and wish you were working there.
Comment on November 9, 2009 by andy smith says:
Things To Look At mentions Good magazine and the two spreads they show are very impressive. Is Good only available on subscription? And have you written about it on magculture?
Comment on November 10, 2009 by jeremy says:
Good can sometimes be found in UK but rarely. I’ve written about it a lot here, but searching ‘Good’ isn’t so helpful. Here’s some links:
http://magculture.com/blog/?p=3857
http://magculture.com/blog/?p=3176
http://magculture.com/blog/?p=2768
http://magculture.com/blog/?p=2314
Comment on November 10, 2009 by Jon Hill says:
Wow, Rebecca! I take it you’re not a Times subscriber? Odd that you talk about ‘knocking down trees’ when almost everything on the pages of MagCulture is printed on dead wood. Anyhow, I hope you liked issue 2 of Eureka if nothing else.
Comment on November 11, 2009 by M.Porter says:
In your face Rebecca!
Comment on November 13, 2009 by Rebecca says:
yeah, but the majority of the magazines featured here don’t purport to have much concern for the environment. unless i’ve radically misunderstood the raison d’etre for Vogue Beauty, Esquire, Kasino etc..
its not the cutting down of trees i have a problem with so much as cutting down the trees in order to reposition itself as an eco-conscious periodical.
but then this is murdoch were talking about here so its hardly surprising.
and no im not a subscriber (imagine!), i get my news from the internet like 85% of the world. but it still doesn’t stop me enjoying magazines
Comment on November 17, 2009 by Jon Hill says:
Rebecca, I’m no mouthpiece for Murdoch (he can take care of that himself!) but it’s fair to say that News International are the first major newspaper group in the UK to go carbon neutral. I don’t think this is repositioning, simply an evolving business responding to the demands of its market.
As for ‘news from the internet’, let’s not get onto the subject of paywalls etc. We will all be subscribers soon…
Comment on November 20, 2009 by Eureka! | typofont. says:
[...] MagCulture has got more analog-ish pictures. Do take a look. And Things To Look At has also written about it. [...]
Comment on November 25, 2009 by Alan Formby-Jackson » Blog Archive » Eureka - new UK Times science mag says:
[...] magCulture blog has more details here and you can see the whole issue [...]
