TAKEAWAY: The summer’s indispensable companion, Monocle Mediterraneo, appears tomorrow at a Mediterranean beach near you. It is a must have. For us in this industry, a colorful, informative reminder of how much fun print can be. Here is the letter I wrote its editor and publisher, Tyler Brulé, after seeing my first copy.
Coming out July 29
Note: as of this writing, Monocle had sold over 1000 copies at 7 pounds each online. Not bad for a product that has not even come out yet!
Frank Deville: probably Monocle Mediterraneo’s first reader, enjoying his copy at the beach in Maspalomas, Canary Islands
A front page with 15 enticing items to sample
Here is the front page of the summer newspaper Monocle Mediterraneo, which appears July 29.
The contents page: navigation made fun and easy
The contents’ page is a real map, pointing to locations of interest where Monocle Mediterraneo takes you in this premiere edition. But it is not just a navigator to the inside; it is also full of informative snippets about those sandy beaches of the Mediterranean. My favorites: In Bozcaada, go skinny dipping in the hidden coves on the south eastern tip of the forgotten Turkisn island; Liguria, Italy, if you must truly connect to your digital dependancies, the port of Genoa now has free wi-fi, although Tyler would probably prefer that you take a post-morning-run coffee and ensaymada at the Fibonacci bakery in the Portixol on Palma’s seafront.
Depth with optimism gives content rhythm a great start here
Opening with optimistic pieces about Greece and Turkey
Culture Stack: 36 tips to make you wiser, more interesting
One of my favorite features, it encourages the reader to find a sturdy trunk and Fedex all these selections in advance. Among the top picks: El Pais of Spain, the must read while in the Mediterranean (I agree and always do); A Single Man the movie, directed by Tom Ford; Abba’s Voulez-Vous, those guys from Stockholm go well with the waves; and, Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Feast of the Goat.
Even the late Steve McQueen comes alive here
The ads with Steve McQueen, black and white splendor of a long gone movie idol, who seems to come alive here.
Ads as visually appealing as the rest of what we see here
Another one of those ads that blend so well with the rest of the MM’s editorial content.
BlackBerry ads were never so appealing. Notice that everyone here is at the beach, creating proximity between the product and the reader’s environment, something rare in newspapers as we know them today.
Dear Tyler, (or should I refer to you as Admiral of the Fleet, as you so aptly call yourself in the newspaper’s masthead?)
This is a love letter to you after seeing Monocle Mediterraneo. Please pardon me if I get too mushy here!
It is time to fan yourself with the 3Ms—-as in Magnificent Monocle Mediterraneo—-at the beaches of the Mediterranean starting tomorrow.
A quick review yields these impressions:
If anyone talks about a renaissance (did it ever go away?) of print doing what it can do best, this is it.
More than a summer newspaper, this is the tutti frutti sorbet that every publisher in the globe needs served to cool his palate, to make him believe in print again, and, most importantly,TO GET A TEXTBOOK, on what printed newspapers could do daily, yes, indeed, daily, to attract and to retain readers.
Sustainability for the newspaper is all about providing information, service and fun for readers. Monocle Mediterraneo does it splendidly well. I can see me kicking off my Prada sandals, putting a bottle of Veuve Clicquot in a bucket of ice, disconnecting (William Powers, I think of you here), while reading Monocle Mediterraneo in the Canaries, where I happen to be, starting tomorrow.
No need for anything with a screen on it.
You manage to use the old newspaper format and give it several injections of Botox for Angelina Jolie lips, grace the pages with those gorgeous photos of Steve McQueen (God, are you sure he is dead? That man looks like the guys from Persol just had him hiding in a closet somewhere and pulled him out just for your beach newspaper. Gorgeous, indeed, but, apparently someone was looking at beauty in connection with ads: the model from Pictet should be doing Dolce & Gabana ads as well, and the young lady from BlackBerry, has a smile that sells more than phones.
This is the thing, Tyler, that publishers need to learn, and your summer newspaper/textbook does it to a T: ads blend with the editorial content, and provide just as much delight. No, I will not put my turkey sandwich on top of the page with the ad. No, sir, not at all. But you had introduced the concept well in Monocle the magazine already, so here you are extending it, to show us that newspapers can be fun, and not just during summer in a cozy and dreamy Mediterranean beach.
That the model in all the ads appear to be at the beach, sitting right next to you, adds to the immediacy of the product. Yes, you do a double take to see if that guy or that girl are engaged in conversation in the chairs next to you.
And the content:
You begin with optimism—-don’t we all need it, along with sun and sand?
To mention Greece and Turkey these days, and the newspaper reports make you look the other way. So you open Monocle Mediterraneo with an optimistic piece about National Renewal in Greece.
And the short thinking under the sun snippets. Grand, and, of course, my favorite one: William Powers’ about postcards, which I still write, by the way. I thought I was the last soul sending someone a Wish You Were Here from Hong Kong or Kerala.
Photography: Marvelous that you give us so many smallish images. We are used to seeing things small on digital media, so why not here too. But when you go big, you do it so well (shades of LIFE).
The service guide to 50 ways to improve the way we live: absolutely necessary, and a good way to end this summer journey into a place where even sweat stops to look at that image on the page.
Congratulations for reminding all of us in this industry that it can be fun, it can be informative, it can be mesmerizingly good for the eyes behind the sun shades, and, most importantly, that it can be ink on paper.
PS: This should not just be for the summer, dear Tyler; Monocle on the Alps..……..?
If good design is functional, appealing, serves the content first and let the visual surprises interrupt the dance of continuity, then Monocle Mediterraneo has it.
Those looking for the next euphoric design moment of mid summer will not find it here.
Students of how design can establish an engaging pattern that identifies the publication’s purpose (here it is classy and friendly), engages you intellectually as well as visually (this is obvious on every page), and, yes, makes you feel good about yourself (the hidden, but so prevalent, objective of all that we do, right?), will be able to use Monocle Mediterraneo as a sort of inspirational text.
Headers at the top of pages are big enough to be seen and not so large that they become party hats at the top.
The typography, mostly serifs for headlines, plays a secondary role for headlines, but more of a primary role when it comes to differentiation of narratives (serif) and secondary readings and finger reading (sans).
Page architecture is identical to that of Monocle magazine. Wider columns carry the substantive texts, while narrow ones speed you into lists such as “before you dive in”, which abound in this, as in any, Monocle product. The perfect symphony of trombones, violins and the occasional drum is achieved here.
Photos and illustrations give us an immediate signal as to the content of the story, but none appear too intrusive. I was thinking that this is one of the few publications that one could not rate as a “writer’s newspaper”, or as “photographer’s paradise, ” and not at all a “designer’s showcasse”. Yet, the three disciplines coexist like it was another day at the beach.
If anyone needs a little review of how to use small photos advantageously, turn to any page of MM.
And, finally, color: Yes, the palettes are mixed, from the golden yellows in the cover, to the subdued sky blues for headers, and the gray for summaries under headlines. It is all there, along with some black and white to cleanse your palate between soup and salad, or between Inspiration and Fashion.
One of the most inspirational pieces in Monocle Mediterraneo plays with the “big idea” of changing lines of work.
“What’s the Big Idea?,” asks the headline on Page 21, then it answers it in the summary below: “Can’t face the thought of returning to work after your summer break? Maybe it’s time for a new gig.”
For those of us designers/journalists, the inspiration is NOT to find a new gig, but to reacquaint ourselves with that gig we love, hit the reset button and let Monocle Mediterraneo inspires our next project.
But, first, a dip in that Mediterranean beach—-usually too cold for a Floridian like me, but, refreshing nonetheless.
Monocle Mediterraneo facts at a glance:
Multi-platforms: The Monocle newspaper will exist in both print and online formats.
Format/pagination: The 64-page colour tabloid will be accompanied by the weekly Monocle Summer Series audio programme on monocle.com, mixing live music, discussion and debate.
Price:The newspaper is priced at £3.50 or €5,
Previous blog interview with Tyler Brulé about his Monocle Mediterraneo project
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/exclusive_tyler_brule_discusses_the_monocle_newspaper
TheMarioBlog post #604