Diacritics

Upon reaching its 40th year of publication, Diacritics, a quarterly “review of contemporary criticism” by Cornell University, felt they needed a more contemporary design. As they say “style is cyclical”, so we dusted off the incredible logotype from the very first issue in 1971 and paired it with type from Hoefler & Co. and a clean, modern layout that is as bold as the essays in each issue. Following the initial redesign, I typeset and produced print-ready files for 13 issues.

Cornell University — created with Rick Rawlins/co

design

cover of Diacritics vol 42.4
close up of Diacritics showing design of table of contents close up of Diacritics showing title typography close up of Diacritics showing pullquote design

Even though in the early days of Diacritics they were very forward thinking and flexible with their design it was almost scandalous to suggest that we add pull quotes to an academic journal. I’m glad we got away with it because they’re a crucial part of the redesign. They help with scanning the dense material, emphasizing important concepts, and break up the monotony of the solid blocks of text on the page.

two thirds spread of colorful art image
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