Tuesday, 8:59am
1 March 2011

Critique: French connections

rick poynor
the magazine department
Design history
Graphic design
Magazines
Typography

Back Cover signals an allegiance to graphic design as a serious endeavour

In his latest Web-only Critique, Rick Poynor looks at the French graphic design and typography magazine Back Cover: ‘Any graphic design magazine with an international outlook confronts a huge array of possible subjects. In the seven or eight features per issue published so far, Back Cover has signalled a firm allegiance to rigorous European typography and to visual communication as an essentially serious social and cultural endeavour. Its design by the editors’ studio, deValence – modernist with a few whimsical touches – embodies these apparently resurgent values.’

See ‘French connections’ on the Eye website.

Below: back cover of Back Cover no. 4 and spreads.

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For more information see Back Cover’s website, editions-b42.com/back-cover.

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Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published quarterly for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It’s available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop. For a taste of no. 78, see Eye before you buy on Issuu.