Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design

is that its layouts are based on ideas—playful, historical, and
unconventional—not knee-jerk responses to the latest computer font
or trick.
Wit and play are hallmarks ofRolling Stone’s pages, especially in a
layout like “Big Shot.” While it helps to have a great photograph, not every
designer would have taken advantage of the opportunity to use the big
inner tube as a mnemonic element. The type is not particularly elegant—
it’s kind of horsy, but in the right proportions to all the other elements on
the page. Moreover, the dot on the iis just silly enough to be brilliant—
by echoing the tube it anchors the type. This is not serendipity, but
planned play.
Two decades ago Rolling Stone’s key competitors were Circus,
Creem, and Rock; they more or less covered the same subjects from different
perspectives. The others approached rock and roll as fashion. So did
Rolling Stone, to a degree, but it was also a forum for news, reviews, and
commentary.Rolling Stone’s format underscored the writing. The others
emphasized pictures. As the others died,Rolling Stonematured into middle
age, though it would be erroneous to say that its format is aimed only at a
late thirty- or forty-something audience. In the argot of today, it is age-
unspecified.
Nevertheless, not every rock and roll aficionado wants news and
analysis when squibs and gossip will do. Not every music fan cares about
design elegance, in fact some say it’s an anachronism. Some anachronism.
Rolling Stoneremains true to Alexey Brodovitch’s vision of magazine design
and his “astonish me!” principle that layouts should be well modulated for
maximum impact and readability.Rolling Stone’s graphic persona at once
rebelled against and defined a late 1960 s design aesthetic, and, over time,
evolved into something classic.Rolling Stonehas aged well because its
editors appear to understand what its readers want, and its designers realize
that serving them needn’t be about flagrantly busting convention. Unlike
most magazines,Rolling Stonehas known when to reinvent itself, and while
representing a field that is mired in fashion, it has avoided its traps.