The relaunch of Monotype’s ‘The Recorder’ Magazine is really worth buying – Issue 1 features a broad range of interesting type/typography subjects — from street signs to Sci-Fi — the bi-annual publication “will focus on the wider implications of typography and how it contributes to a broader cultural context.”
Magazine Art Direction / Design by Luke Tonge
Info from Monotype blog
Type infiltrates almost every aspect of our visual culture. Whether it’s on our screens, in our books, or on the streets we walk; the letters that surround us play an integral role in our lives. To celebrate and explore this further, we’re relaunching the original Monotype magazine, The Recorder. Taking on a new editorial remit, and a complete redesign courtesy of Luke Tonge, the twice-yearly magazine will focus on the wider implications of typography and how it contributes to a broader cultural context.
Making its first appearance in 1902, and eventually edited by the formidable Beatrice Warde, The Recorder was published by the company that produced the machines that today’s Monotype derives its name from. In regular publication as a trade magazine for around 70 years (with a hiatus for much of WWII), it covered everything from technology and typeface releases to historic features; offering readers an in-depth look at the type industry.
This first new issue adopts a new approach, exploring type from a more cultural standpoint, and showing how its influence has played a role in our lives over the years, in everything from street signs to sci-fi.
We’ve explored traditional forms of working, as well as the way a new generation of designers are interpreting type’s role, and the way people respond to it. We’ve considered how letterforms have been used to portray our hopes and fears for the future, both in the design industry and in pop culture, and we’ve looked at how history and culture have contributed to the development and popularity of particular styles of handwriting and typefaces. The first issue also features a photo story that goes behind the working process of one of the most well-respected British printers and typographers – the artist Alan Kitching.
In collaboration with paper company Mohawk, the entire issue is printed on Mohawk Superfine Eggshell Ultrawhite, with a foil blocked cover, spot colours, and two throw-out sections.
Thanks to Emma Tucker | Monotype and Luke Tonge
Photo credits — Luke Tonge | Monotype