Studio Drama gives Glamour Brasil a poetic redesign

Studio Drama gives Glamour Brasil a poetic redesign
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Studio Drama gives Glamour Brasil a poetic redesign

The new look for the women’s fashion magazine is rooted in Brazil’s literary tradition and features a “timeless” new typeface.

London-based design studio Drama has redesigned Glamour Brasil, introducing a poetry-inspired editorial layout and an Art Deco-era typeface.

Studio Drama, which was co-founded by William Richardson and Chris Nott, did a deep dive on Glamour’s past and present issues from Brazil as a starting point for the project. They also looked into international versions of the magazine, which is published by Condé Nast.

Brasil Glamour was first published in 2012 (the country’s name is spelt with an s in Portuguese). On its tenth anniversary, the title has changed physical size from a smaller handbag version to a larger “more luxurious feeling” format, explains Richardson.

For additional inspiration, the designers visited Reference Point, a London-based library which collects rare books and print materials to provide creative prompts. The designers also worked in close collaboration with the Glamour Brasil team, Richardson explains.

From this combined research, the team began to work on a theme around concrete poetry – specifically, the work created by the poetry collective Noigrandes group in the mid-20th century. Concrete poetry is an artform in which the poem’s meaning is reflected by its visual structure.

Richardson describes it as an “artform based on making conversation beautiful, both through the use of language but also its typographic layout”. The conversational aspect of movement was a particular focus point. “This felt like a perfect concept for the collaboration, reflecting the powerful writing and conversational nature of Glamour Brasil – something that makes it such a unique publication,” Richardson adds.

The studio has incorporated “sculptural text” and white space into the redesign, hoping to evoke a “minimalist, ‘less is more’ approach”, Richardson says. One ambition for the new layout is to provide readers with a sense of surprise and more close engagement, he explains – “something that is particularly important in the ‘age of distraction’”.

The studio has also crafted a bespoke typeface for the redesign, Glamour Brasil Sans, in collaboration with graphic and type designer Tom Baber. The design was inspired by the 20th century Art Deco movement which can be found in the country’s early fashion editorial work, according to Richardson.

“We created a contemporary sans serif typeface that embraces the past but is very much built for the future,” the designer adds, describing the typeface as “chic, elegant, and timeless, but rich in personality, detail and flair”.

Glamour Brasil is now available bi-annually. The first of the redesigned issues has three covers, featuring musician Xenia França and actresses Bruna Linzmeyer and Alanis Guillen. “The design of our magazine reflects the unique writing and conversational nature of Glamour Brasil,” adds Richardson.


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