Contempo

Using a minimalist creative approach inspired by modernist design principles Nicework created the branding, design and layouts for local arts and culture magazine Contempo. The magazine featured spacious spreads that allow the image-centric content to take centre stage.

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Client: Contempo

Contempo was a South African art, culture and design magazine. It released three issues before closing its doors.

Services:

Design, Publishing

Discovery:

As a fledgling publication, the magazine wanted to create a contemporary magazine that was sophisticated enough to appeal to design and art-orientated markets, yet would remain accessible to individuals outside the cultural bracket. The client also desired a look and feel that would make the magazine stand out in comparison to its competitors.

Brief:

Contempo approached Nicework to brand the magazine, design the layout and do all the desktop publishing for the magazine.

Challenges:

• To create a distinctive look and feel using minimalist design
• To ensure good content legibility throughout all the pages of the magazine
• Creating a sophisticated end product within a very limited budget

Tackling the brief:

The decision was made to employ a simple, modern design in the layout so that the art and design featured in the magazine would become the heroes of each spread. White spaces and large images were used for spacious and striking spreads.

A Contempo 'plus' was created as the brandmark of the publication to be used throughout the magazine as a striking design element. The 'plus' also served to increase brand awareness in the market. Futura was selected as the primary font of the magazine, which was offset by Garamond Classic as a secondary font. Both increased legibility and allowed for the easy relay of important information.

The magazine was laid out based on a 2.5 column grid, which was broken occasionally by images to create a more dynamic and visually engaging flow of information.

A note-worthy aspect of the magazine was the "design pages", which featured an interview with a different designer each issue. That designer was given the freedom to create the layout for those pages as they saw fit.

Result:

• An established brand identity for the magazine, complete with its own design language
• The creation of inventive spreads that balanced clean design with creative expression
• A happy client
• Unfortunately the magazine closed after 3.5 issues, but our creative director Ross Drakes met his future wife there. They are now happily married