Design in 2018 – what will editorial design look like?
As part of our series on the future of design in 2018, Kellenberger-White co-founder Eva Kellenberger looks at what will happen in editorial design over the next 12 months.
What do you think 2018 will hold for editorial design?
In 2018 I’m hoping for a new direction in how we consider the printed page. We should be more eco-friendly and thoughtful, print less rather than more and rethink formats. As designers we should take time to research materials and the craft of different printing techniques, both old and new.
What was your favourite editorial design project in 2017?
One of my highlights of 2017 was visiting The Most Beautiful Swiss prize in Switzerland. It’s a book competition that was set up by the late Jan Tschichold in 1945 to promote innovative book design. Around 400 submissions were displayed at the Zurich Helmhaus. The event had a real sense of warmth to it, with heartfelt speeches and bratwurst served under the museum’s arcade. I hope for similar celebrations like this in the future, taking place in more locations all over the world.
A brief visit the Magculture in Clerkenwell will give you an instant emersion into what is going on in editorial design, around the world. You will find that it’s just about everything.
The fact is over the past decade there has been a plethora of new, independent magazines arriving and leaving the racks at an alarming rate. Many of these are specifically targeted a the twenty to thirty-somethings who want fashion, lifestyle, design and trendy culture in general. The Copenhagen based independent, ‘Kinfolk’ is a perfect and successful example of this, with its understated classic editorial design and considered photography. The publishers refer to it as a ‘slow lifestyle magazine’.
For me, most mainstream magazines are created by committees and not worth an ounce of comment from me, save to say, they are an utter travesty. But turning to DW’s question, ‘Design in 2018 – what will editorial design look like?’. Last year the Tate had their magazine ‘Tate Etc.’ redesigned. I use the word ‘designed’ reservedly. I have endured three issues (the 2018 issue arriving last week). I would sight is as one of the most shambolically presented ‘art’ magazines from any major cultural institution in the world. It is an affront to any editorial designer that understands and cherishes their craft. Coming from the Tate of all places, it is an example of just how bad the UK can present a leading magazine. A very sad state of affairs.