For the love of editorial design
This trio of winners from last year’s D&AD Magazine and Newspaper category sum up what I love about editorial design: the way ideas and thought can be not only be expressed but emphasised by great design on the printed page.
Eye on Design
With websites taking over the exposition of new design work, print magazines about graphic design have had to reconsider their purpose. This newcomer from US designers association AIGA has immediately seized the opportunity to propose one direction: the personal and political issues facing the contemporary graphic designer. Loosely themed issues (Gossip, Worth, Utopia) allow subjects such as inclusivity, self-worth and idealism to be addressed. Each issue a different designer takes over to express the content – Eye on Design is as much about the execution of design as it is the discussion of the subject.
Civilization
Produced to a ridiculous broadsheet newspaper format (not even newspapers use this scale any more), this chaotically dadaesque publication reflects the millennial experience of contemporary New York City filtered through social media. Every inch of its vast pages is packed with intense but absurd mundanities of everyday life: details of likes and dislikes, the horrors of online friendships and dating, interviews crammed with overshared agony. The design expresses this content perfectly – you get a sense of what to expect by just looking at the pages. At that level, the layouts might be filled with placeholder text. That they are all written for real is the final absurd touch.
New York Times for Kids
The New York Times Magazine has won many D&AD pencils over the years, and deservedly so. But it refuses to sit on its laurels; its editors and designers continue to produce their excellent weekly magazine while experimenting with all other available media formats, from augmented reality video via audio to the newspaper itself. A recent print addition has been this series of Kids supplements, printed on the same presses as the main newspaper, applying the language of comics and magazines to the tall, narrow newsprint format. The large pages become posters featuring full-colour illustrations that bear comparison to the best children’s books. It’s a beautiful repurposing of the newspaper format, with the promise of encouraging future adult readers to the brand. They’ve also successfully begun applying the same magazine-like approach to supplements for their adult readers.