The Recorder

First published in 1902, Monotype's magazine The Recorder has been relaunched with a completely new look, and a new focus: the wider role that typography and type design play in contemporary visual culture. It features a range of bold typographic layouts and illustrations and showcases a variety of Monotype fonts across 4 sections: Features, Essays, Profiles & Opinions. It was created by a team of 2 people, outside of work hours.

It’s 120 pages, a beautiful size, printed by Leycol in London onto some of the best paper around – Mohawk Eggshell superfine – which we had imported from USA. The cover has a huge gold foil masthead which wraps around to the back cover providing opportunity for tessellation and huge shelf presence. We utilised 2 spot colours throughout and have 2 generous ‘throw-out’ sections. Perhaps best of all though, it’s sewn-bound making it a very pleasant flicking & reading experience.

Type of course engages us all daily on many levels – yet is also a complex and nuanced subject – so my aim was to draw people in with a very accessible style and format, and then keep them engaged through original high quality and varied content.

We commissioned some great illustrations by Neasden Control Centre, who created some suitably bold and disruptive type-based imagery for a feature on how typography has been used to represent the future. Elsewhere, David Doran’s charming illustrations of hidden letters in scenes of building exteriors set off a investigation into typography’s relationship with the urban environment. An exclusive photo-essay featuring British printer and typographer Alan Kitching at work in his South London studio was another highlight.

To be entrusted with such a big profile redesign was a rare opportunity and a passion project I just couldn't pass up.