Shane de Lange (@shanenilfunct)’s weekly analysis of media design — both past and present, print and online — from South Africa and around the world:
- Spotlight on Africa/print: Contemporary And provides a platform for African artists, curators, and writers to speak on a global stage.
- Online: Pattern Brutalist is an illustrated education in historic brutalist architectural structures from the late 20th century
- Iconic: Slash contributed to our definition of Punk today, and the invention of independent, avant-garde publications as culturally relevant discursive devices
- International/print: The Guardian Review delves into the universe of renowned physicist, Carlo Rovelli, providing an illustrated adventure in time travel
- International/print: Volkskrant curates a selection of 10 iconic contemporary from around the world to create an eclectic series of covers
Find a cover we should know about? Tweet us at @Marklives and @shanenilfunct.
Want to view all the covers at a glance? See our Pinterest board!
Spotlight on Africa and the diaspora
Contemporary And (C&) (Germany), February 2018
Contemporary And (C&) is an online art magazine with occasional print editions initiated by Germany’s Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen). Embracing a variety of differing perspectives within the context of African art and discourse, C& is a cultural publication that showcases cutting-edge, contemporary art from Africa and the diaspora. Based in Berlin, the magazine is internationalist in its approach and remotely delivers diverse, critical perspectives about and from contemporary African cultural voices.
Spanning a global network of creatives, C& provides a platform for African artists, curators, and writers to speak on a global stage, allowing for the creation of new artistic connections and cultural cross-pollination. The eighth issue of the printed magazine is themed “conditions”, with a still from a performance titled “It’s Not a Thing” from Portland-based, avant-garde, African-American dancer, Keyon Gaskin.
Volkskrant Magazine (Netherlands), April 2018
In celebration of the ADCN Awards, Volkskrant magazine had 10 different covers designed for its latest issue. Themed “creativity” and art directed by Jaap Biemans, a selection of iconic creatives from around the world was assembled to each contribute a cover design, including: Mirko Borsche, Anthony Burrill & Ewoudt Boonstra, Wim Crouwel, David Carson, Richard Turley, Paul Faassen, George Lois, Rodrgo Sanchez, Kessels & Kramer, and Jaap Biemans & Anna Kiosse.
Some favorites among this collection of covers include Sanchez and Faassen, who respectively tackle the importance of making mistakes during the creative process, signified by crumpled paper. Also eye-catching is Jaap Biemans & Anna Kiosse, who are frank about good design being about kicking ass, not kissing ass, and Richard Turley doesn’t mince words about the delusions of grandeur and self-proclaimed genius that many creatives tend to have, immersing himself “in the head, body — and indeed creative process — of a renowned designer”.
The Guardian Review (UK), issue #230, 2018
Art-directed by Bruno Haward and themed “Adventures in Time Travel”, last Saturday’s cover of The Guardian’s Review magazine delved into the universe of renowned physicist, Carlo Rovelli. Referencing the author’s most recent book, The Order of Time, and illustrated by Serbian illustrator, Bratislav Milenkovic, the cover visualises a few complex concepts in an incredibly accessible and aesthetically pleasing way. Dabbling with anything from quantum theory to Einstein, Milenkovic’s artwork communicates an immersive illustrated story in textbook fashion. Beautifully composed, colorful and animated, textured, this is illustration at the edge of the universe, piercing through time and space — not to mention, world-class visual communication.
Online
Pattern Brutalist (Russia), issue 1, January 2017
Popularised during the 1950s and extending into the ’70s, brutalist architecture became one of a variety of representative styles for post-World War II, late-modernist design of the built environment. Concrete and pattern formed the core of the style, referencing one of Le Corbusier’s preferred material, béton brut (French for raw or exposed concrete). Brutalism came into vogue, particularly in Europe, after Reyner Banham, a British architectural critic, published his book “The New Brutalism” in 1966.
A personal project of Russian illustrator, Sergey Lisovsky, Pattern Brutalist draws inspiration from brutalism and poetically visualises seminal architectural structures in a stylised, almost romanticised, illustrated style. The site incorporates a horizontal navigation, encompassing four historic structures, including Apartment Building VDNKH (Moscow), Robotron Bildungszentrum (Dresden), Genex Tower (Serbia), and Aviators House (Moscow). Rarely has an education in historic architectural structures from the late 20th century been so delightfully tasteful.
Iconic
Slash (US), 1977–1980
Slash was a large-format, Los Angeles-based, punk fanzine that published 29 issues between 1977 and 1980. Emulating the format of a tabloid, the zine essentially promoted the Los Angeles punk scene. It frequently placed local underground bands such as The Screamers and The Skulls on the cover, effectively documenting punk in America and bringing attention to the scene in the city.
Slash opened its punk audience to other musical genres, and had an offshoot record label called Slash Records, which became an important proponent of the punk movement during the late ’70s. Slash closed its doors in 1980 — aggressively short-lived and true to the anarchic life and death of the original movement. Essentially, by 1980, punk was dead, and the remaining hubris of the movement had evolved into other musical forms such as post-punk and hardcore. Slash had accomplished as much as it could have, given the nature of punk, which was bound to destroy itself.
A favorite cover is Vol. 2 issue 7 from August 1979, which has an illustration of an archetypal punk illustrated by Gary Panter, titled “Jimbo”. Panter’s illustration canon speaks to the vernacular of the underground comix era, comprising publications that were almost always small press, self-published, independent, proto-punk comic experiments. His work was in honour of punk’s dying moments. Alongside this, there was the introduction of new avant-garde comics and likeminded independent publications during the early ’80s, such as Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly’s RAW. As a result, the historic contribution that punk zines such as Slash made cannot be ignored.
References
- Contemporary And: Pdf of print edition no. 8
- The Black Portlanders: Keyon Gaskin: A Dancer, A Performance Artist Speaks
- Instagram: Post by @volkskrantmagazine
- Widewalls: What do we Mean by Brutalist Architecture ?
- Synergy: Bratislav Milenkovic
- Wikipedia: Carlo Rovelli
- circulationzero.com
Shane de Lange (@shanenilfunct) is a designer, writer, and educator currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, working in the fields of communication design and digital media. He works from Gilgamesh, a small design studio, and is a senior lecturer in graphic design at Vega School in Cape Town. Connect on Pinterest and Instagram.
Cover Stories, formerly MagLove, is a regular slot deconstructing media cover design, both past and present.
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