Jonathan Barnbrook has emerged in the past two decades as one of the UK’s most consistently innovative graphic designers. Pioneering the notion of graphic design with a social conscience, he makes strong statements about corporate culture, consumerism, war and international politics, and through his work in both commercial and non-commercial spheres combines wit, political savvy and bitter irony in equal measures. The Design Museum will exhibit the first British retrospective of his work in Jonathan Barnbrook

Kohkoku Magazine

Redesign of the Japanese magazine Kohkoku (the name means advertising in Japanese). The new editor wanted to discuss social issues, therefore the concept for the redesign was based on the socialist idea of red square. This involved changing the format, a new magazine banner and square typeface called Coma. The studio completed the cover and the first eight pages for each issue of this bi-monthly magazine.

 

Issue 01 Cover

The theme of the issue was Let's Exchange and discussed how to exist in a society without money and features various community bartering schemes. It also discuss ideas of communication.


What is the key to art directing a magazine?

Putting over the editorial content in an eye-catching way and making people understand what the articles are about. On a personal level, I am interested in pushing typography in magazine design. It's still an area that a lot of potential

 


Kohkoku Magazine Opening spread entitled The Square Manifesto talks about the redesign of the magazine.



What's inspires your creativity?

My inspiration comes from lots of diffrent sources. Brandbury Thompson said that to be a good typographer you must be interested in all aspects of life. I agree with this completely. Typography is about cultural exchange between people, the transference of meaning between two beings, and to do this you must be interested in culture, in life.





Kohkoku Magazine Spread talking about the non-use of money.



How important do you think the cover image on a magazine is ?

It makes people pick up a magazine. A good cover sums up the magazine and catch the eye; a bad one confuses the reader as to what the magazine is about.




Kohkoku Magazine

What is the future of magazine publishing?

The whole area is fragmenting. Within the next 20 years we will have a workable version of e-paper; the public now contribute to reporting news more than ever before; advertising models have broken down. It's going to be a difficult and exciting time for magazines.

 



Kohkoku Magazine

Which is your favorite magazine, one that you collect?

I don't collect any magazines or anything else "designed". Things that influence me or interest me tend to be outside of commercial ephemera, such as literature or documentaries.







A selection of adbusters covers of issue 71 and 72 published for different territories, each cover uses a different typeface that we have released.

5 questions from Innovation in Magazine Design by Charlotte Rivers/ RotoVision