Typography 24, 2003, p119
GQ Magazine, Paul Martinez, magazine page layout
This is the opening page to a magazine spread about Tobey Maguire coinciding with the release of a Spiderman movie. The words climbing up the buildings are symbolic of Spiderman climbing skyscrapers. The smaller type in the design is spaced and sized to look like lit windows in the buildings. By cleverly placing the author and photographers names sideways in what appears to be random spots, the type loses the look of letterforms and enhances the idea of windows. If the type had been placed vertically, the viewer would have been more focused on the actual letters and would not appreciate the artistic effect the designer was after. I also found it clever that the article actually begins on this page within the framework of a building. Notice how the color treatment of the letters aids in the windows illusion.
The font is Gotham (how appropriate!) and is used for editorial purposes.
1 comment:
Very nice type as image example. I love the random yellow letter/windows. I thought that the verticality of the text with the article title--which reads from bottom to top--also plays on the word "ascension" and the idea of a rising star. Nice find.
BTW--do you know that Gotham was the Obama Campaign font? Anyway, in reading about design/politics I have heard this font described as "an American Sans-serif." I love these subtle distinctions. I can't put my finder on it, but I'd have to agree that Gotham is neither Swiss nor German in character.
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