Blog

  • Layouts I Love 64 • Popeye, September 2017

    Popeye is a monthly magazine, but older issues become collector’s items for a simple reason: they’re just amazing to flip through. I’ve been reading Popeye digitally, but having this large-format print in my hands feels so immersive and calming. I picked this one up at Better Gift Shop in Toronto. Is that…Kazuchika Okada? The book…

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  • Layouts I Love 63 • Wallpaper* April 2000

    It’s always interesting to go back to someone’s older work. You can see, through Tyler Brule’s vision of late 90s/early 2000s Wallpaper Magazine, a little of what would eventually become Monocle. You can see it in the pleasant but aloof models on the cover and throughout. You can see it in the breadth of subject…

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  • Layouts I Love 62 • Secret Pocket 17

    A few months ago, I was shopping for zines at Tranzac’s Paperjam event. At one booth, you could give your name and address, and get a zine mailed. I did that, and one day, a zine arrived. Secret Pocket 17 feels so intimate, like reading someone’s diary. I love the flowing, expressive cursive, charming anecdotes,…

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  • Layouts I Love 61 • Monocle 193

    The Monocle Design Awards is a good opportunity to showcase strong layout. This is an impressive showcase of designers. One again I have to admire Monocle’s paragraph style choices. In just a short section, repeated throughout, you see six separate styles that fit together in tight or wide spaces. The orange background fill in the…

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  • Layouts I Love 60 • Reality Has a Surprising Amount of Detail by Robin Sloan

    Robin Sloan is an author of interesting fiction and essays. As long as I’ve followed his career, I’ve been impressed with how willing he is to experiment with form and medium. ”Reality Has a Surprising Amount of Detail” is a poster on one side and an essay on the other. It could have been a…

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  • My Favourite Design Podcasts

    Design can be a somewhat lonely career, which means a lot of us end up with podcast addictions. I’ve curated a collection of design-focused podcasts that I dip into occasionally to get inspired, challenge my own ideas, and better understand what’s happening in my industry. Maybe you’ll like them too. 99% Invisible: The gold standard…

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  • Layouts I Love 59 • & Premium 6

    Just in time for Spring, & Premium has an issue all about plants and gardening. I want to highlight how pretty the TOC is, this clean cascading of simple titles. It elegantly displays the large amount of content in the magazine. One tiny bear illustration does so much whimsy work. The issue communicates its love…

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  • Layouts I Love 58 • Raygun The Bible of Music and Style by Marvin Scott Jarrett

    Raygun: The Bible of Music and Style by Marvin Scott Jarrett is a coffee table book about Raygun Magazine. It is the only place to see some of the layouts from Raygun, as there doesn’t seem to be an online repository of copies. (If you can point me to one I would greatly appreciate it.…

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  • Hyperlinks Log, May 2026

    This content highlights notable publications and opinions on the state of print versus digital media. It discusses the impact of AI on writing and reflects on the responsibilities of content creators in journalism. Additionally, it pays tribute to Paul Brainerd, the pioneer of desktop publishing, emphasizing his legacy in both technology and environmental conservation.

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  • Layouts I Love 57 • Omoshiro Japan by Oke

    Omoshiro Japan #1 by Oke is a beautiful zine about traditional Japanese candies. The use of a soft seigaiha (say-guy-hah) pattern across the background provides a traditional Japanese motif that anchors the pages without distracting from the content. The colour palette is muted and creamy, mirroring the sugary, nostalgic themes of the candies themselves. The…

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