Printout – Designing Difference

Thanks everyone who made it through the rain to join a packed Book Club last night and hear from Ana Lessing and Kevin Braddock (A Magazine for all Seasons), Edward Vince (Talc) and Kai van Rabenau (mono.kultur). The theme ‘Designing Difference’ was set against concerns expressed in my recent review of Boat magazine that a familiar set of visual styles were narrowing the promise of the independent magazine industry (a clumsier version of similar thoughts can be heard on last week’s rather negative edition of Monocle24’s The Stack).

Edward Vince shares seventies magazine Wet; Kai van Rabenau talks mono.kultur.

Steve’s already posted some detailed notes on his Stack blog, but I just wanted to highlight what for me was the key theme that linked the speakers and their projects.

Of course typography and layout featured, but the bigger theme was how these three magazines were designed as products, as physical items beyond the standard size and format. The thought and effort that went into the choice of papers and the way, for instance, the narrow format of Winter (A Magazine for All Seasons) opens out to create a square spread when flat, was fascinating.

With that care and attention extended to every other part of their magazines, the speakers were highly convincing in their support for developing a unique identity in print.

Thank you to all the speakers, but it was a particular pleasure to welcome Ana, Kevin and Kai all the way from Berlin. The next Printout will be late July.

(Sadly Danielle Pender, editor of Riposte, had to cancel her appearance due to illness. We wish her well and hope to have her join us another time).

More on the evening at People of Print.

A Magazine For All Seasons
mono.kultur
Riposte
Talc