Pit magazine (2020 redesign)

Pit is a UK-based publication originally conceived as a celebration of food and fire with a specific focus on live fire cooking. The magazine has evolved its approach over the course of thirteen issues with a much wider remit. Each issue covers a specific theme, with essays, recipes, and features from a variety of food writers who hunt for untold stories.

Holly Catford founded Pit and serves as the magazine’s art director. She specializes in editorial design. For the May 2020 redesign, she chose Sharp Type’s Doyle as one the primary fonts. Simultaneously loose and structured, Doyle’s inky textures evoke two typesetter classics. The slab-serifed ITC American Typewriter is Doyle’s main influence at the thinner end, while the rounded serifs and extended ascenders of Cooper Black are referenced in the chubby warmth of the bolder weights. It’s a typeface that manages to be unpretentious and supportive, yet bold and memorable. Catford has applied Doyle throughout Pit’s pages in a variety of settings: display, header, and captioning. The resulting application gives Pit the approachability of a welcoming dinner host, imbuing the pages with approachability and warmth. Doyle is also used on the website.