Response - week 3

In reading William Owens' Modern Magazine Design, I was struck both by how many design styles I took to be fairly modern innovations have, in fact, been around since almost the beginning, as well as by how early magazine design began to evolve and grow from newspaper and book design. Although this example from the December 2010 issue of Esquire does not adhere to many of the punk style elements of the '70s and '80s, it does use and reinterpret several. Owen explicitly notes both the use of typewriter type rather than digitally set type as an element of punk as well as a renewed appreciation for pop art. Although surely Esquire set this typewriter type with a computer, the intent is the same; it defies the standard of beautiful design in favor of a found aesthetic. Similarly, the photos look unremarkable to fit in with the desired style, and they are not given dominance over the text as they would be were this a standard, modern design in many consumer publications. Instead, they are written on and placed haphazardly on the page. Even though punk used mismatched type, the DIY look of the handwritten type in this spread follows a similar train of thought. The hand-drawn sketches in conjunction with the display type and highlighter accents create the image of a sketchbook rather than a slickly designed magazine. Although Esquire is certainly not calling directly upon the punk style of design, the visual elements of this spread can be seen as an evolution from it, if a highly commercialized version (which is confusing).