Author: Andy Cowles

Bloomberg asks the question, ‘What is code?’

This is incredible. Really long, but feels really true. What is code? Coca Cola’s marketing boss on the ‘artificial divide between creativity and effectiveness’. It’s a pretty good story. What’s next for publishers and video, decent roundup here. The end of web design as we know it. Great story about trust in content, my favourite subject.

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The single reason why Proxima Nova is the world’s best font

There’s a good story by on Medium today about Proxima Nova, the font that by many measures has replaced Helvetica as the world’s most popular typeface. Proxima was first drawn by Mark Simonson in 1981, it took a while to gain traction but after the release of Gotham in 2002 it really took off. Fred […]

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How to make your subscriber cover really mean something

Here’s the June Issue of Australian Elle, which brilliantly demonstrates the value of a split run subscriber cover. According to the editor, this wasn’t planned, it was just that the model needed to breast feed whilst she was on the shoot. So she did!

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In memory of Gavin Reeve-Daniels

Last Thursday saw the Gav Aid 2015 Pop Quiz completely fill the Troxy theatre in London’s East End. Over 800 contestants turned out in honour of Gavin Reeve-Daniels, who died of pancreatic cancer in September last year. Gavin did however attend the first Gav Aid event in 2013, having been diagnosed just a few months […]

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Pin down the text size, and put it in the contract

Most people never read more than 25% of even their favourite magazine. However, many editors are totally blind to this fact, insisting on getting every single word of their deathless prose wedged into the page. Invoking higher authority, this often produces nothing more than a sophisticated internal memo that no one will ever read. As […]

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Print that.

The murder of Charlie Hebdo’s editorial team is just beyond belief. How to respond to such an appalling tragedy is now something every editor, journalist and blogger has had to deal with. This is The Independent‘s front page, which rather than focus on the violence, demonstrates the power of a single cartoon to carry the story. […]

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Possibly The Best Airline Magazine In The World

I’m currently consulting with Ink Global Media, the world’s largest publisher of airline magazines. My own projects for them are still in the mixer, but we’ll do well to get half way close to N, the magazine Ink produces for the smart, increasingly global carrier Norwegian Airlines. N was narrowly robbed of the UK’s top publishing […]

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My interview with Wyatt Mitchell of The New Yorker

Wyatt is going to be speaking at Magfest 2014, the Scottish PPA’s eagerly awaited conference on September 5th. He’s The New Yorker‘s first ever Creative Director, as well as having a storied CV behind him, with roles at Wired, Vibe, Esquire, Oprah Magazine and TV Guide. Here’s an exclusive podcast interview I did with him […]

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How do you compete with a billion dollar logo?

This post was first published on The Media Briefing earlier this week. Buzzfeed is now considered one of the world’s most innovative news organisation. It’s value is currently over $1b, getting close to the likes of The New York Times ($1.28b), and dwarfing other digital news sites. So it’s no surprise that more start-ups are […]

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David Carson, and the layout that changed the way I work

  I believe this brilliant spread is from The End Of Print, one of David Carson’s many books featuring surf magazines he designed pre-Raygun. But I was reminded of it again last week, whilst working with a client around the theme of people and their passions. David Carson made his name with some very funky […]

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