1. EDITORIAL, CONCEPT, AND IDEA
CONCEPTS RESEMBLE MACHINES: THEY ARE THE REASON YOU WORK
ON THE CONTENT, AND AT THE SAME TIME THEY DEFINE THE METHOD
OF YOUR WORK. {LUDOVIC BALLAND}
What is it? And, just as important, what is it not? What do you want to say?
What a publication says is conveyed in words and images, but also in its choice of
design, typography, format, and every other element of what makes the publication
feel like itself, and nothing else.
If what you want to say is something that isn’t already being said, or that isn’t being
said in the way you want to say it, then you have an exciting concept. And then you
can begin.
The clearest concepts are those that can be explained in a single sentence, preferably
a sentence that both explains an area of focus while also promising near-infinite possibility. “For people who give a damn” (GOOD). What do these “people” give a damn about, and why?
A tight concept is essential for a successful publication. It should spread its influence over every part of the creation process, from the style of commissioning to the choice of materials.
The editors need to think about the story, the designers need to think about the visuals.
A magazine or a newspaper is, in one sense, an exercise in repetition. However, this sense of repetition can only go so far—each issue also has to be noticeably different from the last, it has to hold the promise of new and valuable information; it has to walk that difficult line between surprising the reader while not breaking the contract it has with them for consistency.
Do the same, do it different, over and over again. Be surprising, be unexpected—
be consistent.
For most publications, however, the tightness of the concept is more about familiarity, while also being careful to differentiate itself from those around it.
A concept can also begin with a format. Is Not Magazine was a giant poster pasted onto the walls of Melbourne and Sydney, providing editorial content in a space where previously there was none. It was designed to be read close up, to be written on (issues often contained a crossword puzzles), to interact with, and to be interacted with by the city around it.
Creativity demands not just imagination—it also needs limitations. So do advertisers—a magazine or newspaper aimed at everyone, everywhere will struggle to find brands willing to advertise in its pages.
A clear concept should go hand in hand with a clear and consistent design—however, if your concept is based around cutting-edge art or fashion, then that design will also need to continually adapt and change.
Clear, concise, distinctive, intriguing. When you have a great concept, a promise to the reader about what you will and will not do, then the rest will follow. The hardest parts come next: fulfilling that promise, over and over again, and then persuading people to pay for it.
QUOTES:
Readers are not as conservative as journalists are. Of course you have to respect some habits but the most important aspect in redesigning a newspaper is explaining what you are doing and why. You have to spend hours, pages in explaining changes. It is stupid
not to listen to readers, once the redesign is done, if they mostly complain about some specific changes. JAVIER ERREA
For the reader, a newspaper redesigning is like returning home from travelling and finding that someone has rearranged your apartment. LUKAS KIRCHER TO STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG
In many cases clients just asks for a visual lifting. They don’t realize that visual liftings don’t make any sense without a global view of the organization and product. JAVIER ERREA
Working out a redesign is about breaking with tradition and polarizing the readership. Starting a new magazine needs a good reason. The challenge is to create the necessary urgency. MIKE MEIRÉ
The first issue of 032c after the redesign was titled “Energy Experimentation.” Publisher Joerg Koch planned all this. I was his candidate of choice for this phase and he gave me the carte blanche. MIKE MEIRÉ
Have a precise idea. Find out how much money you have for it. Don’t count on the future bringing more opportunity: work with what you have. Find the right team, with the right ambition. Tailor the project so that you can afford it (both time-and moneywise). Set deadlines: work short term. Work hard to make it happen. Admit mistakes as inevitable. Enjoy the process and be open to changes. OMAR SOSA ON WHAT IT TAKES TO START A MAGAZINE.
2. OBJECT
FORM AND CONTENT HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER TO DELIVER AN IDEA THAT IS ENJOYABLE, USEFUL, AND INFORMATIVE. {FRANCESCO FRANCHI}
It is an eternal truth wrapped up in a cliché: “content over form, not form over content.” Why are the two separate at all? The choice between content and form is a false one.
Choices can be made, form is content; a deliberate choice that tells you something about the stories told within, and about the way the creators expect you to interact with their product, and engage with their stories—not to mention the perceived value in the mind of the reader.
While people turn to digital media for pure information, the physical object is increasingly being carefully planned, created, and manipulated to be a part of how we live in the real world, in a way that is relevant to the rest of the content. Monocle slips neatly inside a carry-in briefcase, next to your laptop.
Mobile technologists use the word “haptics” to describe the feedback that a device gives its user through vibrations or motions. Paper’s interactivity is also centered around haptic interaction with the reader—its touch, its feel, its weight. And “interactive’ doesn’t only refer to microchips, as the New Web feature in the March 2009 edition of Domus shows, inviting the reader to crease and fold pages in order to conjure up the section’s two accompanying images.
We are inseparably connected to our surroundings. Our brains take in more than just visual input.
For publications, once a concept has been decided upon, the next stage is to decide on a format; this means, ideally, that every aspect will be chosen carefully for the story it conveys, whether consciously or not, to the reader.
QUOTES:
Take most of our newspapers today and you will find a lot of gray, boring, visually terrible publications. Usually they include terrible texts as well. What makes me concerned is that today ordinary people appropriate a broad visual culture. We are all in contact with marvelous visual material and messages anywhere, anytime. And we still want to sell boring newspapers! JAVIER ERREA
3. STRUCTURE
A FLUCTUATING NARRATIVE KEEPS THE CURVE OF INTEREST HIGH, WHICH IS GOOD FOR THE READER AND FOR ADVERTISING REVENUE AS WELL.
{FRANCESCO FRANCHI}
The structure is the story—it is the beginning, the middle, and the end.
If print stands out for one thing, it is the medium’s inevitable need for an imposition
of structure and order from above.
The reason behind a rigid structure is the same as the need for tight concept—you need to have somewhere to start.
An effective structure is the hardest thing to teach—it is a sensation rather than a formula. The art of a successful structure is like a successful piece of music.
The aim, as with any storytelling, is to ramp up the drama, to slowly increase the reader’s involvement, to pull them in deeper and deeper until they trust you take them even to places that they may not otherwise have gone.
The aim above can be achieved simply with the imposition of a clear, coherent, and rhytmical structure—but without one, the reader will be left confused, unsure where to turn next, and distracted by the publication’s inconsistency, away from the content itself.
QUOTES:
The key aspect in structure developments is the analysis of the material. This it make it possible to find the inner quality of the project, brings up first ideas about the necessary rearrangements of the material and visual topics. Deep analysis and research help me to deal with this matter. To develop a structure of a book—sometimes you have to turn into a detective. LUDOVIC BALLAND
4. NAVIGATION
ORDER, HIERARCHY, LEGIBILITY, & IMPACT. {JAVIER ERREA, ANSWERING THE QUESTION “WHAT HELPS A PUBLICATION SELL COPIES?”}
People will navigate a book, magazine, or newspaper in any one of a variety of ways.
However the reader chooses to travel, it is important that they never feel lost on the journey, which is where clear and consistent signage comes in.
The most obvious navigation tool is the contents page/index pages, where articles are trailed and the structure is laid bare.
Navigation is about more than just a clear index at the beginning or end. On virtually every page, a publication will include a subtle navigational element, including a page number, a section heading, and sometimes an arrow or other symbol to indicate either that an article is continued on another page, or that it ends here.
Navigation is also an important tool to remind the reader of the structure of a publication—and so make certain concepts more familiar, perhaps even sought after, even if that effect may mostly take place on a subconscious level.
QUOTES:
First of all, the design should serve a reader and clear his perception by means of a transparent and understandable concept. That is why for me the question of telling the story is less important than the one refering to actually reading one. I investigate different possibilities of reading the story. As a reader, I want to decide myself about the way I read, the elements I focus on. The navigation should help me to define my position and find subjects related to my current interest. The idea of interactive reading makes the text and the image two separate issues, to be treated independently by a designer. One can compare this process to an architecture design—it is like placing a few different entrances in a project of a house. LUDOVIC BALLAND
We developed a series of mastheads to identify the main sections and we designed a simple navigation system inside the magazine made up of section headings and running headlines that are printed on the top corner of each page. They help to mark the difference between editorial and advertising pages. FRANCESCO FRANCHI
5. TYPOGRAPHY
IN MY PROJECTS, TYPOGRAPHY IS ALWAYS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES, WHAT IS MORE EXCITING THAN CHOOSING YOUR OUTFIT BEFORE GOING OUT? TYPOGRAPHY IS THE OUTFIT OF THE TEXT. {LUDOVIC BALLAND}
There are two ways of viewing type: as striking visual elements that can completely change the attitude of the reader towards the printed page; or as a mere background, that most readers aside from typographic geeks barely even notice. Both are equally true.
As overlooked as it often is, type can be as political, retro, susceptible to trends, and daringly groundbreaking as any other piece of content.
Good typography is akin to the ambient sounds and smells of a room—it affects our mood, our opinions, and our ability to concentrate in ways that we scarcely notice. It also has a huge affect on the branding and feel of a publication.
QUOTES:
Especially in daily newspapers, a coherent typographical system that creates the unique identity of a paper even down to its smallest detials is a device which creates reader loyalty. If I tear a small piece out of a newspaper and still have the feeling that “this is my newspaper,” I have created a basic typographic system that creates identity. LUKAS KIRCHER
To me, typography is probably the most important factor. It has often been the main focus in the work I have designed in the past 3 years. I love the moment when I feel I can solve something with only language as my instrument. The decision for a typeface is just intuitive. For me, the project just “needs” to have that specific type, but it’s a very aesthetic, personal choice. REMCO VAN BLADEL
6. LAYOUT/GRID
WITHOUT THE GRID NOTHING IS POSSIBLE. THE GRID MEANS REFERENCE, ORDER, HIERARCHY. THE GRID CAN BE SILENT OR LOUD. MOST IMPORTANTLY, YOU CAN BE IMAGINATIVE AND FREE WORKING WITH THE GRID. {JAVIER ERREA}
The grid is the structure that holds a publication’s design together. It is the rules that each page must conform to, the invisible threads that keep text and images in position.
There are two elements to a grid: horizontal and vertical lines. The horizontal lines are principally used to direct the placement of text boxes, images, and baselines for typography; the vertical lines are to guide the positions of the columns.
By establishing and sticking to a grid, the positioning of every element of a layout—or
at least its borders—should be milimeter precise.
Establishing a grid is far from a simple task, for it needs to be both tight in its structure and flexible in its potential use. Once in place, however, it can make design efficient, faster, and more consistent in its creation, and help to create a clear visual hierarchy
on each page.
QUOTES:
The grid changed over the years—in a sense that it got lost. The grid is the program
of the publication. Grid design is a big business and demands a lot of working power, structures, and management to be sustained. Therefore it seems to fade into the past
as an expensive fancy. LUDOVIC BALLAND
7. COVER
THE COVER HAS TWO MAIN FUNCTIONS: IT NEEDS TO EXPRESS OUR BRAND AND MISSION AT A GLANCE, AND IT ALSO NEEDS TO WORK AS A NEWSSTAND SALES TOOL. WE FIND THAT PROVOCATION AND LIGHT SENSATIONALISM, MIXED WITH CLEAN DESIGN, DO WELL FOR US {ZACH FRECHETTE, GOOD MAGAZINE}
We should absolutely trust the covers of books, newspapers, and magazines to guide us towards similarly interesting, intriguing, and well-designed stories on the inside.
For publications that are sold in stores, the cover is the attention grabber.
The cover is the doorway to the world of a publication. Its aim is to tease you inside, any way it can—but the more consistent it is with the ideals and style of what can be found there, the more successful it will ultimately be.
QUOTES:
I have worked with many projects without paying attention to the cover till the last minute EXPRESSO is the leading newspaper in Portugal. The most respected and prestigious printed product there. It is delivered inside a plastic bag. You cannot even read the news. You just trust them and buy. JAVIER ERREA
Like many Italian magazine DOMUS was distributed shrinkwrapped. This prevents readers at the newsstand from taking a look at the actual content which can be frustrating. We decided to include the wrapping into our concept and by printing an additional image (or, later, text information) on it. We created a more appealing, somewhat erotic, and then surprising element of experiencing the magazine. NICOLAS BOURQUIN
8. VISUAL LANGUAGE
IMAGES AND GRAPHICS ARE NECESSARY, BUT NOT AS DECORATION. THEY ARE NARRATIVE TOOLS. {JAVIER ERREA}
A visual language is about showing how a publication sees the world.
A consistent visual language is not an easy thing to establish. Fluency in visual language requires careful commissioning and skillful art direction to prevent the feel of a publication from becoming either stale or uneven.
Everything plays its part, from how much space is given to image, to how photos
are lit and shot, the way they’re cropped, what and who is in them—and what they’re positioned next to.
QUOTES:
A good picture needs to catch my attention and to be of high quality. I often have to work with so much crap. I love working with good photographers, then half of my work is already done. REMCO VAN BLADEL
The challenge when creating an infographic spread is to combine and organize data, and select and choose how to display it in order to tell a story that can be an alternative to writing an article of then thousand words or more. An infographic is at the same time design and narrative, it implies a union between graphics and journalism because it is not only a representation but also an interpretation of reality. The visual language adds one more variable to the reading experience: non-linearity. Readers do not have to go straight from one line of text to the next, but can choose a route like in a palimpsest where the layered format is a resource. FRANCESCO FRANCHI
9. THE NEXT CHAPTER
PRINT IS THE MOST COMPELLING INVITATION INTO THE GOOD ECOSYSTEM. WHEN THAT STOPS BEING TRUE, WE’LL STOP PRINTING IT. {ZACH FRECHETTE}
There has never been a shortage of creativity in print design. The challenge has always been how to make this creativity sustainable—how to make imaginative, daring work more than just the result of students assignments, heavily sponsored one-offs, or side projects by people who earn their money doing less adventurous work.
Print does not have to survive. It is. quite simply, a method of conveying content.
Cultures thrive on incisive journalism, emotive stories, and relevant art, but how these are reproduced and distributed has always changed and developed from one age to another, according to demand and utility.
QUOTES:
The infinite space on a website is good and bad. It’s good to have as much space as we want to publish as many things as we want so things don’t get left out. But the finite space of the newspaper forces us to edit. One thing we have done is to bring that sensibility from the newspaper, that idea that it needs to be tight. It is an important value to be succinct even if you have as much space as you want. STEVE DUENES
XOXO,
JAJ
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