Bright new world ... the August issue of Super Super magazine. Photograph: CR blog
You know the problem with modern life? Everything's so designed. Part of the success of the time-vacuum cop drama Life On Mars was the way it reacquainted us not just with how un-PC the PCs of the 70s were, but also how utterly un-design-conscious the world was. Everything was painted in hues of brown. Men wore tank tops not as an ironic reference, but because they keep you warm when you don't fancy a jumper.
Today, the fascism of "good" taste decrees that everything has to appeal to our educated, media-savvy eyes. Even newspaper websites like this one. But, as Creative Review points out, it seems as if a stand is finally being made against the taste police. Of course, we're never going to return to the days of ochre and beige, but style magazines such as Super Super and 032c are opting for a deliberately vulgar, in-your-face approach to design.
"Magazines have become very machine-like, very impersonal," says Super Super's creative director, Steve Slocombe, "Super Super is very human." Jörg Koch, editor of 032c cited his boredom with the over-use of tasteful serif fonts in explaining the magazine's recent redesign by Mike Meiré. A friend of mine has already dubbed this new approach "plonky design", which perfectly sums up the editorial approach.
And it doesn't end with magazines. Look at the success of Cillit Bang which has earned cult status thanks to a brash approach and some far from subtle branding. All of which makes me think Seb Coe was ahead of the curve in commissioning Wolff Olins' logo for the 2012 Olympics. The future's bright, the future's day-glo orange.
