15 Comments

Once again - a step in a good direction!
It's nice to see that your upping the game a little...

Still totally unconvinced with the Monograph thing.
action man
2009-07-21 12:43:46

You've got a nice facelift latley and keeps improving.
To be honest I thought you were kinda dull for a while and to little content and mostly ads in half the magazine. At that time Grafik was quite fresh and I liked the art direction. But things went wrong there after a while and the new re-design is horrible.

I'll buy your mag for a while now, hope you keep up the good work!
Sten-Åke
2009-07-21 13:10:29

I concur!

Nice to see a good content to advert ratio. And good articles, degree shows, digital portfolios and film title sequences that makes for some tasty reading!

I may very well be making a purchase.
Pete
2009-07-21 13:42:06

Very good issue. Very very good. I absolutely like the cover, the winner!
Maja
2009-07-21 16:00:00

I'll pick this up.
grfk dzgn
2009-07-21 17:10:02

What a great opportunity it is to design the cover of creative review, it really doesn't come along that often... lets spend some time and do something really good.... (after 5 mins of brainstorming) we decide to re-use the list idea that is on our website, job done...(pause for thought...)...No lets use a different stock for stand out and wak a price tad on it - easy.

Whilst the thinking is whitty and a little big different for CR, it doesn't really showcase what Music can do... does it?
Kevin Blackburn
2009-07-22 00:24:17

Yeah great looking cover and I love that Music To Do list. Seems things are looking up at CR and I'll be getting a new subscription setup when I return to the UK.
Greig Anderson
2009-07-22 02:13:16

@Kevin Blackburn
Oh dear, I knew someone would come on here and claim that the cover was "easy". There was nothing easy about it.

This was our choice of concept - Music came up with a number of others but we chose this one to go with as it works with our theme of listing content on the cover yet still makes reference to Music and their work.

Instead of taking what would have been the simple option of producing the idea 4 colour at our regular printer, Music pushed us to do something more special. This cover involved using not just a different stock to our normal cover but a different printer and a completely different process. Music not only did the design but also arranged the production of the cover and the die-cut stickers for the barcode which have to be applied by hand to all 22000 copies. All of this involved an enormous amount of work in getting quotes, liaising with our regular printer, ensuring delivery times could be met etc etc, even helping offset the extra costs involved - in short all of the boring but vital work that is essential in producing a magazine but that most people take for granted. This was all turned round within a week.

So I can assure you that this certainly wasn't the "easy" option. Given the reaction so far from everyone who has seen it and the comments here, I think it was the right one.

As for what Music can do, that is covered quite thoroughly in the article inside.
 PatrickBurgoyne
2009-07-22 09:16:31

Looking forward to picking up the new issue,
I am surprised you have not done a blog entry about the redevelopment of analogue integral film http://www.the-impossible-project.com/index.php
Please consider doing one as its quite interesting and a lot of people do not know about the project.
Thanks
George Foote
George Foote
2009-07-22 13:37:44

Just arrived at work and it's on my boss's desk — can't wait for lunch to roll round so I can sneak a peak…
Beautiful cover, so pleased serif italics is making a comeback — what an exciting time to be involved in design.
claire cessford
2009-07-23 10:11:08

Like the cover, nice to have something with a tactile quality too.

Hope I'm not too miserable in saying I was very disappointed to see a spelling mistake in there. Perhaps 'buy a dictionary' should've been in the list (sorry, couldn't resist). But seriously, it's a shame designers put so much effort into the concept and execution but have so little respect for the (British) English language.
Rob S
2009-07-29 10:29:34

@Rob S

Thanks for that. I should point out though that the US spelling of "Organize" was used because it refers to the book Agitate! Educate! Organize! published by Cornell University Press (reviewed in the issue).
 Mark Sinclair
2009-07-29 10:43:17

When I was picking up my daily bottle of water in my local newsagents I noticed in the corner of my eye the new Issue. As soon as I saw it I thought I've seen this before. But I couldn't remember for the life of me where I've seen the design. I knew it was a website that had the same use of typeface and overall design. I was going to write what a bunch of rip off merchants you 'Creative' Review lot are. And then I found the blog read that it was created by Music and all was forgiven and forgotten.

Brilliant cover, great issue.
Matt Jagger
2009-07-30 09:14:23

Hello Patrick,

I wasn't suggesting the process or effort put in by yourselves and music was in anyway 'easy' - simply that based on the selected and produced design, it would appear the 'easy' option - lifted straight from there website, in a cookie cutter fashion.

CR is a lovely magazine that I buy religiously every month, and will continue to do so.

You can't please all the people all the time!

K
Kevin Blackburn
2009-07-31 05:42:19

Thanks for your lavishly illustrated review of our book on American labor posters. It adds support to my cynical prediction that this work will draw much more interest outside the United States than within it. Two comments, please. First, regarding the reviewer's challenge that digital media have replaced poster art, contrary to our conclusion. In fact, all we assert is that actual posters are not going away, as a victim of technological progress. There is no question that smart organizing these days takes advantage of all sorts of Web and broadcast tools, that's fine. There is certainly room for both. But as designers (you) and archivists (me), one wonders how well these images will be captured and survive the test of time. Second, you missed the bait we tossed regarding Rodney Mace's groundbreaking book _British Trade Union Posters_, 1999. Are our labor posters better than your labor posters? Just a question.
Lincoln Cushing
2009-08-29 23:56:21

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