GEO Epoche No. 89, “The Inquisition”
Geo Epoche is a German magazine about history, published every two months as part of the GEO family by Gruner+Jahr.
Relaunched in 2018 and designed in-house by Tatjana Lorenz (art direction) and Eva Mitschke (layout), the magazine uses a combination of typefaces. While Bauer Bodoni and ITC Franklin/ITC Franklin Gothic take turns for display roles, the body copy is set in Garamond Premier. The palette is completed by Brandon Grotesque, which serves for informational texts, captions, intros, footnotes, and more.
Geo Epoche was awarded at this year’s International Creative Media Award (ICMA) with two Gold Medals (illustration) as well as one Silver (layout) and one Bronze (concept) Medal. The images show pages from two of the awarded features, “Satansweib” and “Der Seelenretter”. Both are included in No. 89, “The Inquisition”, which was the first issue following the relaunch.
The column text wraps around the book references and the summary, which are set in center-aligned Brandon Grotesque and framed by horizontal square brackets. Garamond Premier is used with (default) lining numerals and activated contextual alternates (see the sweeping Q tail). While the body copy features „comma-shaped“ quotation marks, the smaller sans-serif text shows »guillemets«. Both forms are common in German typography.
The pull quote is in Bauer Bodoni Italic, with yellow caps from ITC Franklin Gothic Demi Extra Compressed. Garamond and Bodoni usually don’t go well together, but the size contrast plus the fact that it’s the italic help to make the combination work. The running title pairs Bauer Bodoni (page numbers) with Interstate (“GEO Epoche”) and Brandon Grotesque (issue title).
The striking depictions of a medieval inquisitor were made exclusively for GEO Epoche and earned Samson J. Goetze a Gold Medal in ICMA’s “Illustration” category.
Initials and drop caps (below) are set in Bauer Bodoni Italic.
The block-outs for the teasers add some welcome tension to the spreads. The downside is lines that are on the brink of getting too short.
A single-colored bookmark provides an overview of perpetrators and victims of note, as well as a chronology with the most important dates of the inquisition.
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