Entorse #2
The first issue of Entorse made its mark with a textured, basketball-orange front cover, but I’d argue that issue two stands out even more. A circular cutout in the centre of the oversized black cover reveals a geometric pattern underneath, cleverly framing the underlying tiled pattern to turn it into a basketball.
The tricolour title dominates too, using Vroum Bold from Lift Type, its split letterforms highlighted in three colurs – blue, gold foil and red – which finish off the eye-catching cover, establishing its French origins.
The magazine is entirely French language so I can’t bring you much analysis of the writing, but the issue is imbued with so much energy and style we couldn’t resist. Few visually-driven magazines have sprung out of basketball culture – the only other one we have come across is Franchise, but Entorse shows where a little playfulness with design and content can take a sports magazine.
Spreads like this (above) make the most of the large format – placing that distinctive typeface around a well-chosen photograph, and mixing it up with some portraits, text, and an oversized page number.
Elsewhere in the magazine, wheelchair basketball is the subject of some dynamic black and white photography and show another side to the sport we don’t always get to see (above). The choice to go black and white works really well on the off-white paper, and highlights the contrast between the athletes’ bodies and the metal of their wheelchairs. It’s great to see this kind of diversity represented in the magazine but I was disappointed not to see more women playing basketball. A feature near the end about cheerleading has some great photography (below) but I’d hoped for more imagery of women playing the sport too.
Flip the issue over to the back cover and the gold-foiled basketball net is almost a work of art in itself (above). It’s an extract from a series of intricate illustrations –‘Ficelles’ by Helmo – the graphic design studio behind the magazine (spread, below).
These line drawings capture the movement of the net just after the ball has vacated the scene, and are an example of the vivacity and detail put into the magazine overall.
Editor-in-chief: Stéphane Peaucelle-Laurens
Design: Helmo