47: November 2011 Archives

SPD 47: Simon Esterson's Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: Simon Esterson's Favorite Magazine

Simon Esterson, Esterson Associates
Favorite Magazine: Inventario
I am in love with so many magazines, but the Italian magazine Inventario sits on the corner of my desk and I keep finding myself drawn back to it. Covering design, architecture and art it features an amazing range of ideas and images. Printed on uncoated paper with very restrained typography, it has the ability within one issue to look like both a busy sketchbook and a formal art catalogue. Editor: Beppe Finessi. Design: Artemio Croatto/Designwork.

This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.
SPD 47: Emily Crawford's Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: Emily Crawford's Favorite Magazine

Emily Crawford, Senior Art Director, Time
Favorite Magazine: Adbusters
Full disclosure: I wouldn't normally have chosen this publication, although I think the cover of this issue is quite strong. I picked it because the magazine essentially jump-started the Occupy Wall Street movement----which, to me, is proof of how powerful and relevant magazines still are and how they can sometimes even change the world.

This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.
SPD 47: Khoi Vinh's Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: Khoi Vinh's Favorite Magazine

Khoi Vinh, Co-founder, Lascaux Co.
Favorite Magazine: Reeder
My favorite bit of 'editorial' design is an iPad (and iPhone) app called Reeder. It's an RSS aggregator. Actually it's just an interface that plugs into my Google Reader account. But it makes surveying a ton of news sources, blogs and update feeds simple, elegant and even addictive. I read it every single day.
This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.
SPD 47: Walter Bernard's Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: Walter Bernard's Favorite Magazine

Walter Bernard, Principle, Walter Bernard Consultancy
Favorite Magazine: Linda
A Dutch women's magazine unlike any in the US. It uses real people as models, covers taboo subjects, and is presented in a high-spirited bold design with equally bold photography.

This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.
SPD 47: George Pitts' Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: George Pitts' Favorite Magazine

George Pitts, Photographer and Professor, Parsons, The New School for Design
Favorite Magazine: Purple
Purple is a favorite largely for the long interviews with artists, and cultural figures that range from across the arts, from Alejandro Jodorowsky to David Lynch to Taryn Simon; and also for its adventurous, often racy photographs, with pictorials ranging from Juergen Teller to Steven Klein, and numerous emerging talents.

This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.
SPD 47: Luis Mendo's Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: Luis Mendo's Favorite Magazine

Luis Mendo, Founder, Editorial Design Consultant and Designer, GOOD Inc. Amsterdam
Favorite magazine: IL -- Intelligence in Lifestyle
I've chosen IL because design-wise it fulfills everything I want to see in a mag: brave typography, great imagery and a strong personality. The design team has made something special out of what could be just another newspaper supplement. The recent re-launch has made it even better than it already was. The new typography feels familiar and the mag is now a better version of itself, a grown up where you still can see the child. And I am so fond of their weakest point: the paper. Although coarse, thin and cheap in the feel, the team of designers, pre-press and printers does its best with it. The result is very pleasant to look at, despite everything. I love the smell of it too, but that's another story.


This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.
SPD 47: Dora Somosi's Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: Dora Somosi's Favorite Magazine

Dora Somosi, Director of Photography, GQ
Favorite magazine: Polka Magazine
I was given this copy of Polka Magazine by an inspiring young photographer named Ethan Levitas, whose work is included here. The feature well consists of portfolios by photographers mostly engaged in documentary and/or fine art work, with imagery by both legends like Elliott Erwitt, and future giants like Levitas. The design is simple--reminiscent of old layouts from Life and Vu--the photography well curated, and the reproduction very fine, all of which will surely make Polka a collector's item.


This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.
SPD 47: Luke Hayman's Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: Luke Hayman's Favorite Magazine

Luke Hayman (SPD 47 Co-Chair), Partner, Pentagram
Favorite magazine: Lotus Magazine
Designed by Anton Ioukhnovets, the custom publication Lotus is a riff on an old-school men's magazine with hot cars as the center folds. This is an English sports car brand with tremendous heritage which the design captures while simultaneously being contemporary. The format is large and lush - a spread covers the area of 4 ipad screens - and it's well used. The typography and design is deceptively simple. This magazine is a pleasure.


This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.
SPD 47: Jeremy Leslie's Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: Jeremy Leslie's Favorite Magazine

Jeremy Leslie (SPD 47 Co-Chair), Editor, Creative Director, Magculture
Favorite magazine: mono.kultur
The best editorial ideas are deceptively simple, and right now English-language German culture magazine mono.kultur is my favourite example of beautifully executed simplicity.

As its name suggests, each edition features just one artist. They're the focus of an in-depth interview which is published alongside examples of their work. See what I mean about simple? Subjects have included fashion designer Dries van Noten, actor Tilda Swinton, photographer Ryan McGinley and author/performance artist Miranda July.

The physical format of the magazine changes every issue, as does the layout design. The only constant is the basic size, a petite A5, and the tiny title text on the cover. The Dave Eggers issue, no25 (shown), unfolded to a poster-sized scale mimicking a book printers running sheet; no19, featuring cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, ran in a filmic landscape format. There have been multiple throw outs, tip-ins, various combinations of papers and special inks - including the use of special scented ink devised by smell artist Sissel Tolass.

mono.kultur is a beautifully designed and produced piece of print that introduces and records the work of leading contemporary creative voices. It has become a highly collectible series and has just reached its 29th issue, about musician Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear.



This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.
SPD 47: Richard Turley's Favorite Magazine

SPD 47: Richard Turley's Favorite Magazine

Richard Turley (SPD 47 Co-Chair), Creative Director, Bloomberg Businessweek
Favorite magazine: 'Sup Magazine
Music magazines are cursed by the paradox of musicians never having anything interesting to say, yet people asking them loads of questions anyway. And whilst I can't claim to have read everything in 'Sup, it's such a great-looking mag I have to buy it just to feel like I read it.

From an art point of view, the magazine is really about photography, which pushes you all over the place from crunchy black and white, color-saturated portraits, contingent still lives; it feels temporary, accidental, never forced, always fun. The design is out of the reductive school of trying to look like your not obsessed about the position of the headline even though you know there has been a lot of care going into each page. But the real skill is in the pacing. All the articles are very similar (interview plus photos) which can be tricky to manage, but there is real surprise when you turn the page and that sense of surprise and messing with the reader which I love in all great magazines.

This post is part of the Favorite Magazines Project, part of SPD's PUB 47 Competition and Awards. Download the entry forms and be a part of the competition here.

SPD 47: Your Favorite Magazine

To get us ready for SPD 47: The Best in Editorial Design, Photography and Illustration, we've asked a lot art and photo directors from around the world to tell us the magazines or apps that they really love. The ones they can't wait to get their hands on, the ones that fire their creative spirit: you know, the ones that make you jealous, or supremely happy, or both.

Each day we'll be posting a different one, to give you an idea of not only the incredible creativity going on every day in magazines, but also the huge range of magazines that people look at.

And you know... it's surprising. It turns out we love a lot of different magazines, from all over the world, and that we are a curious bunch, us magazine people.

Check back with us on Monday for the first of many favorites to come. Enter your own favorite work in SPD by downloading the Call for Entries and all instructions and entry forms here.
Announcing Pub 47 Co-Chairs!

Announcing Pub 47 Co-Chairs!

It's both a tremendous honor, and loaded with more than a bit of excitement, to announce the co-chairs for the upcoming SPD PUB 47 Awards:

For the print competition, for the first time ever, we have three co-chairs to announce: Luke Hayman (Partner, Pentagram), Jeremy Leslie (Editor and Creative Director, Magculture) and Richard Turley (Creative Director, Bloomberg Businessweek). (Editor's note: must not be British to enter or win.)

The digital competition will be led by Scher Foord (Special Projects Director, Time Inc. Style and Entertainment Group) and Joe Zeff (President, Joe Zeff Design).

PUB 47 will recognize the best in editorial design, photography and illustration in print and digital from 2011. In addition to a few special categories we're adding to reflect the astounding year that 2011 has been around the world, we're also pleased to announce another first: an early-bird deadline of December 15, 2011 -- if we have your entries by then, you'll save some significant cash.

So get those interns to work! Start flagging and pulling the tearsheets you know you need to enter, and click here for the full download of the Call for Entries, new special categories, and early-bird info, and check back to SPD.org daily for a rolling spotlight on our love of magazines, and magazine-makers, up until the final deadline.

Archives | 47: December 2011 »