Rouleur magazine logo
Rouleur logo
Rouleur is a British cycling magazine founded by Guy Andrews and first published in May 2006 by sportswear brand Rapha and later as a part of Gruppo Media Ltd.
The Rouleur logo is based on Clarendon. It’s not out-of-the-box Clarendon, though: the designer made some modifications. We find a number of tightly spaced pairs, effectively forming custom ligatures. The spur of R is linked to the bowl of o. The serifs of u and l are merged as well as, and so are those of u and r.
The magazine takes the direction of vintage publications with covers composed of analog photo illustrations, with a certain taste for simplicity in a mid-century spirit. Clarendon is often used for its vintage qualities: with serifs, yet quite modern.
From Rouleur:
The finest cycling journal in the world, published eight times a year. Each issue is classic and collectable, bringing together the very best cycling writers and photographers to convey the essence, passion and beauty of road racing.
Rouleur no. 1, May 2006, with a cover photograph by Ben Ingham
Rouleur no. 2
Rouleur no. 18.2
Rouleur no. 30
Rouleur, Tour de France 2019 special issue, designed by Thomas Danthony.
Rouleur no. 119, 2023
2 Comments on “Rouleur magazine logo”
I’m Luke Scheybeler, founder of Rapha and Creative Director of Issue 1 of Rouleur. The original logo was designed by Ben Aquilina and me in a ridiculous rush back for first original issue of Rouleur. Ben and I cranked out the entire design system in two weeks—it was the first time either of us had designed a magazine, so it was quite stressful.
As we had no time, we essentially copied the layout of Fantastic Man magazine, but changed the type faces. We used Aachen as I’d seen the typeface used on a the side of a shipping container loading crane in the Netherlands and thought it had a sort of impactful, brutalist low-country ugliness that suited the magazine. I think we paired it with Mrs Eaves as it had loads of weights and we’d nicked a copy from somewhere (we paid for it later). The logo was a slightly adjusted version of Clarendon, but a modern cut of it, can’t remember which one—we joined the letters together slightly but nothing particularly complex was altered. I think both Ben and I had a hand in adjusting it, but it was a team effort.
Production was expertly handled by Biff—Johnathan Bacon is an absolute machine—and we managed to hit the stupid deadline. Guy Andrews’ editorial expertise brought the whole thing together though, and Ben Ingham’s cover—and various contributions to the stories inside—elevated the entire product.
If you have get a copy of issue one with a GOLD logo, then keep hold of it. Only a limited number were printed. They’re worth quite a bit now.
Luke, very nice of you to chime in here! Thanks a bunch for the additional information and insights, that’s priceless. I’ve added Ben Aquilina’s and your name to the credits.
The post is primarily concerned with the logo, but as it also shows a selection of covers from various stages of Rouleur’s history, I’m inclined to additionally keep the names for the responsible art directors at the time these were created.