Keymag magazine, issue 02
KEYMAG is a music magazine that aims to bring readers into new cultural worlds, with very few borders. All the albums and subjects in this second issue are linked by the theme of community.
Some of the designs here hinge on replication of existing designs, such as the Gong and LateNightTales pieces, and thus either use the typefaces from the original source, or a modernised, alternate version.
The body copy throughout uses Surt, which has become the staple font for the magazine. For the ‘Gateway to Dream Pop’ piece, a mixture of Antiquarian Scribe and Acier are used for the artist and album titles. These two contrast each other to give a very rustic design that matches the additional collage designs by Becky McGillivray.
Apple Chancery was used for the heading at the top of the piece on prog rock band Gong, in attempt to modernise the typography and design of the band’s original record gatefold – these were originally handwritten.
The page numbers in the mag are handled by Futura. For double-digit numbers, they are stacked vertically, as an interesting little feature seen on the LateNightTales page.
Oroban is used for the pull quote on the piece about New York’s The Kitchen, the only one in the mag. It brings a bit of negative space and more interesting break-up of the layout, and the font itself is a beautiful balance of poise and idiosyncracy.
Big Caslon was used on the page on D’Angelo’s Black Messiah, which puts an outlined stroke on a serif font, an increasingly popular design choice today. Also of note is the Black Lives Matter symbol overlayed in crimson red on the body copy in the same picture.
In mimicry of the design of the LateNightTales mix series and their album artwork, Neue Helvetica was used. This page more than any other shows how KEYMAG is nothing if not an homage to all the subjects it discusses.
