With the up coming launch of Inscription: The Journal of Material Text – Theory, Practice, History #5 'Containers' on May 14th 2025, I thought is was about time I posted something about this wonderful journal. I have the first 3 issues, I missed issue 4, maybe…
I always had mixed feelings as student when I leafed through U&lc. The covers and size promised so much but often it didn’t deliver (at least for the style/idea hungry design student I was back then). Probably because it was ultimately a trade rag (back…
I was digging through my library and found four issues of Baseline. I’d forgotten how good it was! The issues are from 1999, 2004 and 2 from 2005 (# 27, 44, 46, 48) and all have ‘poster’ cover wraps which make them feel oh-so-special. Looking…
Last month I was back in London, for the first in years. Amongst other things I simply couldn't resist the opportunity to swing by MagCulture - always a treat and chocked full of incredible publications and gems. Unfortunately I had to limit my purchases as hand…
Finally picked up a copy of the much raved about MacGuffin magazine. I'm a bit late to this party as it's already on No. 3, The Rope issue. I must say it's pretty damn nice, lovely stock and use of illustration. I really like the…
There's something about cycling that seems to brings out the best in graphic designers. I'd seen a few pieces about Mondial magazine from the British cycling brand Rapha on the design blogs, but hadn't seen it in the flesh until I visited their San Francisco…
Since the early 2000s there's been an explosion in high quality independent magazines. These are often lovingly crafted, hugely indulgent, hyper focussed niche offerings. Not aimed at mass distribution or high ROI and usually not the most successful business models. One of these magazines that appeared…
Rediscovered some old issues of I-D Magazine. They range from issue 5 (1981) to issue 28 (1985) and cover the mag's early progression from fanzine to fashion mag. First up is issue 5 aka the Lady Di issue. A spectacularly good typographic pun for the…
This was an absolute must for me. Not least because I'm a print and design obsessive but also because I work in the data visualisation and analytics field. And it didn't disappoint! Beautiful. A lovely piece of design from The Office for Creative Research (o-c-r.org) . Best of all the…
Lift and Separate is a lovely tactile journal, very much in the spirit of Emigré and Eye. It was published circa 1993 by the Herb Lubalin Study Center. What I really like, is the piece on vernacular and the journey from drawing fanciful letters in a note book to purging the ornaments…
I have a few loose issues of Emigré so when the bound volumes were released I had to grab them. These are from the more theoretically engaged period, epitomized by the mouthpiece series. Great to look back on and see the issues that raged and in…
This is one of the later issues (No. 26 Spring 1993) of Emigré that was published in the large format. Fairly soon after this it went to a smaller journal like publication. Interestingly this coincided with a shift in graphic design writing. A move away from pure design expressions…
This is Dot Dot Dot or ... or maybe even ellipsis. It's the first issue of a graphic design journal started in 2000 that ran until January 2011. It was the brainchild of Peter Biľak and Stuart Bailey and as Peter puts it, it was an "after-hours…
I held on to this issue of I-D magazine from January 1995 mainly because it featured people I knew back then, but also because my vanity got the better of me (you can see a poster I designed in the background of one of the photographs). I hadn't seen…
Here's another item from the archive, 10 years old this time, Amelia's Magazine from A.W 2004 (issue 2). They must have come into money when they put this out. It's thick with plenty of content, laser cut cover and die cut pages to make room for the added…
Head Magazine I've posted previously about how there was an idea in the early 90s of DIY culture. This manifested in many ways from 'crusty squatters' and indi-networks through to self publishing and a revival of the punk aesthetic and the 'zine. This post is…
Here's Issue 11, which I think was the last issue. I'd love some of the earlier issues, but they are pretty rare and are little out of my price range by the looks of things - http://brickbatbooks.blogspot.com/2008/08/new-arrivals-source-music-of-avant.html . For more on the magazine see wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source:_Music_of_the_Avant_Garde There's…
I first saw a copy of Source when I was a student. I instantly feel in love with it - a real treasure trove from the past, full of weird ideas and interesting people. The blend of art, performance and music (very challenging music to me…