Domus redesign – typography
April 2008 - design by onlab
Creative Direction and Concept: Nicolas Bourquin & Sven Ehmann; Graphic Design: Nicolas Bourquin, Linda Hintz, Thibaud Tissot; Graphic Design Assistance: Marie-Louise Greb, Yvonne Schneider; Type Design: Mika Mischler; Coordination Assistance: Renu Gautam
Publisher: Editoriale Domus, Milan, Italy
A magazine that respects its readers is clearly readable, critical, understandable, yet challenging.
One exclusive font designed by onlab (Gill Oroso) and one new font designed by binnenland (Relevant) have been introduced.
Gill Oroso is based on a font (Gill Sans Display Extra) that was created in the same year Domus was first published.
Relevant offers two versions of the lower-case letter "a" to distinguish the English and Italian texts from one another. Relevant is a homogenous, round font with high readability. The "a" without an upper bar, as in handwriting, is rarely found in sans-serif fonts. In Relevant this form is re-drawn with a swung terminal.
The character of a magazine is the character of its makers. The creation of a magazine is a collaborative process. Everybody involved is a co-author of the contents.
Even though digital tools are central to the production of a magazine, both the creative process and the user's experience are very analogue. It is the dialog between all the people involved in the editorial and creative process that creates the story. It is a matter of trust, responsibility and vigour.
