The Mario Blog

This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, Sept. 11.

The name Roger Black is associated with great newspaper/magazine design, and, more importantly, with type.  When you talk to Roger Black, no matter what the occasion, type is always center stage.  Roger and I go back over three decades of collaborations and friendship. I always come out of a meeting with Roger with tips for a font I should look at, or an example of a publication that is using type wisely.

Roger is also surrounded by a lot of the interesting “type” people, many of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting through him.

Now, Roger’s passion for type, and the people who share those passions, have found a destination in the new Type Magazine, just out this month. To read Roger’s introductory column, headlined Type is Everywhere!,   this Type Magazine is all about the role that ubiquity, branding, globalization and technology have on type. Here is cover of the first edition.

“We  can understand the increasing demand for type. It’s enormous. But the most interesting parts are the individuals who have come together to satisfy this demand. They are what this magazine is about.”

In the first issue of Type Magazine

The Story of Yatra—Inspired by Indian rail stations. By Catherine Leigh Schmidt
Amazing Type Projects from Around the World, by Amy Papaelias
James Edmondson’s Hobeaux, by Jason Tselentis
The National Parks Posters, by Joshua Farmer

Vincent Winter provides key design reporting, as well as collaboration on the typography and layout.

Where else but in a Roger Black type publication would you find a story headlined:   “The Revenge of Lydian.”

Here are some of the inside pages of Type.

I believe Type Magazine is not just for designers and those interested in type.  I recommend it highly for my academic colleagues teaching design courses.  Each page of Type is contains valuable lessons on the utilization of type. Notice the subtle changes of weights and styles in the intros to articles, the bold and crisp subheads, the beautiful italics for quotes.  I plan to incorporate Type as part of the typography unit for my Columbia University course, Multiplatform Design & Storytelling.

Notice also that the website for Type Magazine is not a replica of what we see in the print version.  I like that, unlike other type/design publications, there is a certain immediacy and boldness about the way stories are presented.

Wishing Roger and his team at Type Magazine the best of luck with a much needed and well done project.