“Graphis” Magazine
Magazines serve a larger purpose
than to just entertain people. “Graphis” is a magazine that was first published
in 1944 by Dr. Walter Amstutz and Walter Herdeg
in Zurich, Switzerland. It presents the work of fine artists and illustrators
and highlights the formative years of graphic design to present day. This magazine has published hundred of articles
and books but was discontinued after its 355th edition. “Graphis” is a widely known
magazine with stable, eye pleasing editorial content, contains a relevance of
design to students interested in the subject, and presents an appealing art
direction to its viewers.
Sometimes other design magazines are
filled with words or a limited range of ideas in its content. “Graphis”,
however, is unlike those other magazines. Inside its cover page, the images range
from: furniture, animals, design, advertising, photography, annual reports,
poster, logos, branding, and new uprising talents. Although there are many
parts to it, this particular magazine, especially on its website, mainly
focuses on photography and art. Its images are large, clear and take up the
whole page, making the viewers instantly drawn into the magazine. Its layout
consists of little to no words, making the designers work the main focus.
“Graphis” also displays works for brand names like Nike (see printed image) and
many others. Aside from its stunning images, the magazines editorial content
itself is fairly simple.
Students who strive to become a
designer often look to this magazine. Previous editions are available, but it
also has an up-to-date website with information for use. Students can easily
look to this magazine for inspiration and ideas about how their designs can be
displayed in the future. There are also many brochures, books, and portfolios
available as well on its website since there are few words on the magazines printed
pages. Each one of these aspects of this magazine can easily help someone
aspires to be a graphic designer in their future encounters.
“Graphis” takes on a specific art
direction of visual imagery. Each and every page is fully filled with usually
one image or several. Since the viewers of this magazine mostly refer to it for
its visual content, it does not have many words. Bold and striking colors
capture peoples eyes and draw them in, but in a pleasing way. Usually too many
colors can distract a viewer, but in “Graphis”, soft background colors are used
to offset the contrast. This makes it more intriguing to viewers and therefore
more successful in its area. The designs and images displayed are many
designers like Amil Gargano, Josef Muller-Brockman, Peter Kraemer, and Albert
Watson. There is a wide range of what styles are displayed, but each has its
own unique look and feel to it that viewers seem to love.
There are similar magazines in the
world that compare to “Graphis”. One of them is “Baseline” magazine.
“Baseline”, unlike “Graphis”, fills its pages with a few small images and
mostly words describing the works displayed. Both use bold colors decorating
their pages, but “Baseline” seems to focus more on geometric shapes and designs
while “Graphis” is more on photography and life images. Magazines that have
more words filling its pages are usually not as interesting as ones with mostly
images. Its like children with books; would they rather look at the pretty picture
or read hundreds of words describing what they could be looking at with their
own eye.
“Graphis” is an aesthetically
pleasing published magazine. Although it is no longer printed, it keeps up its
success through its website. Its wide range of images and designs keep viewer
interested in its content and keep its online business alive and successful. Viewers
can easily be inspired by its design layout, advertising techniques, and
stunning images by talented designers. Books from this magazine are for sale to
help designers along their way, and people can still access older editions as
well. It shows how works of art should be displayed; taking up the full page
and letting the images speak louder than the words describing it.
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