LOS ANGELES, USA — To celebrate 81 years of PRINT history, its undisputed influence on visual culture and the iconic title’s bold future, Pearlfisher created a video to support the magazine’s online relaunch as PRINTmag.com moves to a new platform, Word Press, with a user-friendly update to its presentation style.
When PRINT’s team of partners comprised of design industry leaders – Debbie Millman, Stephen Heller, Andrew Gibbs, Jessica Deseo, Deb Aldrich, and Laura Des Enfants – purchased the brand in late 2019 they were surprised and excited that the purchase included 80 years of magazine issues. Wanting to acknowledge both the longevity of the magazine and the stunning visual history represented by this archive, the PRINT partners reached out to Pearlfisher to create a celebration of the magazine and website in support of this weeks’ site relaunch. This was an opportunity to embrace PRINT’s long history of reportage on graphic design as well as collaborations with famous artists and designers. With special access to the PRINT magazine physical archive, which catalogues the design industry’s rich history, Pearlfisher felt a responsibility to pay tribute to the legacy of PRINT by featuring its iconic covers and reimagining them through animation.
The video attempts to answer the eternal question, “PRINT is…?” And while it’s impossible to fill in the blank with just one word, Pearlfisher used responses gathered from their internal global team in combination with images of many of the iconic PRINT covers to create an eclectic, yet subjective, journey into PRINT.
“Being able to amplify the legacy of PRINT’s incredible content and to showcase it in a new way for readers – old and new – holds a lot of layered meaning,” said Justin Sottile, Senior Motion Designer at Pearlfisher New York. “PRINT is alive. It moves and has a sound all its own—and is open for people to interpret not just what PRINT means to them, but, what it has the potential to be.”
The energetic custom audio track, which alternates between a steady snare of classic jazz and more modern – even futuristic – electronic sounds, was mixed in-house by the Head of Realization at Pearlfisher New York, Stephen Kwartler (available on streaming platforms as Qu.One).
“Publications, like PRINT, are made invaluable not only for the stories and art they hold, but for the purpose and humanity we ascribe to them as readers and creatives,” says Debbie Millman, design leader and co-owner of PRINT Magazine. “We’re hard at work to continue inspiring and building design dialogue through PRINT and pleased that the video Pearlfisher created perfectly encapsulates this mission.”
School of Visual Arts (SVA) Masters in Branding has incorporated the archive of PRINT magazine into their library ensuring that the issues will exist well into the next 80 years.
View the relaunch video and keep up with PRINT Magazine at PRINTmag.com
About PRINT:
PRINT (founded 1940) is where creative people gather to inspire and build design dialogue. Perpetually curious about everything design, we report on, curate and celebrate visual culture, the makers of that culture and the expression of graphic design in all its forms and mediums. www.printmag.com
