We’ve noted an increase in smaller page sizes and fewer pages recently, as publishers respond to increased production costs. But that doesn’t mean a magazine can’t make the most of print.

The 40th episode of our podcast features two publishers that have done exactly that with their magazines: Danielle Pender from Riposte Editions and Kai von Rabenau at mono.kultur. The Riposte publication is an entirely new proposition, with a new format to match. It has a tall, elagant, format and uses a beautiful off-white paper with a contrasting bold red card for its cover that’s folded over to add a subtle additional feature to its presence.

mono.kultur has always majored on its physical format, despite its small page size. Indeed, the tactile, physical format of the magazine has played a key part in its indentity. The 50 issues to date add up to a catalogue of what’s possible when you work with a printer to create different folds and finishes, and the new 50th anniversary issue is one of its strongest. Here’s a look at how the issue cleverly uses a physical format to express its content.

Each issue of mono.kultur features an interview with a single artist. This time that person is Mike Mills, who has crossed several areas of creative activity. To reflect this, and mark the 50th anniversary of the project, the issue contains not one but three interviews with Mills, each addressing one activity (graphics, music and filmmaking). The image above shows the simple opening spread, an intro opposite a pair of stills opening the film interview. One detail: the lefthand page is the inside front cover, printed on a cream card stock, while the right page is on a brighter white paper.

The variation in paper colour is more visible later in the issue with the openings of the other two interviews. The designers among you might also just note that the Mike Mills titles each use a different typeface.

The two papers popping in and out of the page run like this is the key to the magazine’s overall construction. It’s difficult to slot single pages of paper into a magazine like that. What’s going on?

What’s actually happening here is that the off-white card ‘cover’ is a single sheet of paper folded into four parts that forms a ‘spine’ zigzaging through the issue (above). Each of the three interview sections are 20 page sections stapled to the spine card.

 
The structure of the magazine is built from the editorial structure of the issue, the result a perfect physical reflection of the content. The three interviews are distinct yet bound together, presenting initially as a simple cut down A5 booklet yet opening to a far more complex publication.

Publisher Kai von Rabenau
Editors Urs Bellermann, Melissa Canbaz, Marieke Dittmer, Renko Heuer, Freya Marshall, Florian Rehn and Tina Wessel
Design mono.studio

mono-kultur.com