Modern Geek Magazine

This is a spread from Modern Geek Magazine designed by Eli Sebastian Brumbaugh, and talks about geek culture, the etymology of the word, what makes it so personal yet cult-like, and an abstract concept of thought palaces that people create for themselves, almost as an escape. There seem to be two typefaces in use, one for display/titles, and the other typeface for body text. One book weight sans serif is also used, to show the distinction of that aspect/ornament of design. 

The title is significantly larger in size than the body text and is styled in a decorative, 8-bit typeface in bold. This is the strongest form in the spread and immediately calls attention to it, indicating a clear visual hierarchy. While the bold, 'cyber' font loudly announces itself, it also indicates the audience and interests it appeals to - perhaps that of gaming, video-games, and the internet, making it relevant to the content. Another treatment of this typeface is done by changing the color of the paragraph to red and allows it to sit between simple looking body text. This tells us what is pertinent to read throughout the text, and perhaps highlights a key idea of the article. For the body text, a classic serif font of Bodoni is used, as to not call attention to the typeface, and allows the reader to focus on the content on the page. Assuming that simply using Bodoni would be boring, the designer has used columns and grids to stack the paragraphs in an ascending order to create more movement on the page. Bodoni is also used under the main title, as a subtitle, but in a larger size, and italicized form, to keep the coherence in the page, as well as look distinct from the body.

Another way the eyes are almost led by the text is the negative space around the headline. It directly takes the reader to the title, leading them to the black diamond shape (with text in it), and then gently lulls one into the text. It is a comfortable journey, both for reading and for browsing.

I enjoyed the entire layout of the spread, from the choice of typefaces to the way everything was arranged. The designer successfully created a typographic hierarchy and allowed the design to surprise us with movement, and changes in color. What is interesting to me is that there are many combinations of type treatment on the page, but it is designed with a precise balance that allows it to have a clean and coherent look. This is what I would like to experiment with, using interesting decorative typefaces, while also striking an interesting balance with body text and its layout.