To have and to hold; according to Steve Heller writing in Print Mag, that is the penultimate value of a printed title.
Heller has worked on the team at Eye for almost 20 years now and feels no apologies are needed…they are in love with print.
The title is now in its 93rd issue, which Heller says is “exceptional for its loyalty, fealty and important coverage of print with barely a word on the digital (although the entire production is a product of the digital age). I’m not saying that stories on digital phenomena are not pertinent or important to our current design world, but this Eye seems to say, at least for now, that our attention is on the themes that make graphic design into GRAPHIC DESIGN.”
“The magazine is for all of us. It is not meant to exclude the devotedly digital, but it is, in this issue in particular, a record, at times an homage, to that media of communication that made most designers want to become visual communicators,” Heller writes.
One of the most striking elements of the magazine is their judicious use of fonts. Each and every typeface choice has a reason, a purpose, and nothing is left to chance. It’s truly a work of art.
The choice of fonts, especially for printed media, is a critical part of the design process, and an artful blend of creativity and science. For those, like the folks on Heller’s team, who have been doing it forever, it seems almost effortless. And of course, it’s far from it.
Graphic designers would do well to study the “20 Typography Rules Every Designer Should Know,” compiled by Igor Ovsyannykov in Creative Market. It’s the perfect place to start to build your skills based on proven and sound design principles.
Who knows…maybe the next magazine you design will also stick around for 93 issues. Meanwhile, Keller has a request of all the design fans out there who appreciate Eye and what it brings:
“I hope some or many of you will think of investing in a subscription, which will keep Eye afloat and bring the print world into clear focus. You can always read some of it online, but the best way to appreciate it is to have and hold.”