Good Tape magazine, Issue 01
Good Tape is a new magazine, printed on broadsheet newsprint, with original writing, art, and even some word games about the podcasting industry. Co-Founder and Creative Director Sami Wittwer designed the first issue finding a visual foundation in the alternative press of the 1970s whose formal constraints provided a structure for a variety of bold editorial art and illustrated features.
Our type selection for this project was made with the intent of nodding to the aesthetic of the editorial references – 70s alt press and design – without erring into nostalgia. We selected faces from a variety of foundries, all sharing sort of handworked interpretation of faces native to newsprint and alternative media.
Prominently featured in the logo and article headlines, the display face Paraiso Heavy is an anchor for the visual language of the paper. Paraiso Sans, also by Lucas Descroix of Plain Form, is used throughout for accent and embellishment. Harking back to the bold display faces of 1970s alternative press and the Victorian wood typefaces that inspired them, Paraiso’s solid yet playful look had an appealing nod back to work that was inspirational to us as well.
Tobias Rechsteiner hard-working GT Zirkon for for Grilli Type was selected for a variety of uses throughout the issue. Working with newsprint comes with an inherent risk of bleed, so the exaggerated ink traps not only provided a stylistic benefit, but allowed for legibility at the smaller scales we were looking for.
For our body copy, we wanted a face that prioritized legibility and clarity. In Commercial Type’s Publico Text, we found a family of fonts with its origins in newspaper design.
Good Tape also uses custom lettering from One Day Vacation throughout, including a stylized drop cap at the beginning of each feature and a heading for “The Art Of…,” a series of functional how-to’s. Senior Designer and artist Sean Suchara provided the art for our illustrated centerfold, where avatars of each interview subject find themselves together in a liminal, video game-inspired space discussing their thoughts on what makes good tape.
