The menu of the new magazine is very simple:
ENTREES (Entradas)
MAIN COURSE (Prato Principal)
DESSERTS (Sobremesas)
The key element of the new concept is the caleidoscopic treatment of the Main Course, or cover story. It’s always a single issue, but presented in many ways and in many languages.
CHANGE is the Main Course of the first issue.
An abstract topic?
Never.
The Main Course always will be something “newsy.”
This is not a “features” magazine.
It’s a “newsy” one.
Madonna sings this weekend in Lisbon, and she is the “eternal mutant.”
Stories of people that have confronted big changes.
Politicians that migrate from their original positions.
Changes in fashion.
Many perspectives, and many storytelling languages.
Photo portraits.
Photo essays.
Candid photos.
Photo illustrations.
Illustrations.
Infographics.
Interviews.
Comments.
Analysis.
Reviews.
Essays.
This combination of one topic + many perspectives + many storytelling languages = FUSION JOURNALISM.
The INNOVATION team, once again, had the pleasure of working with a first-class team of journalists from EXPRESSO: Henrique Monteiro (EXPRESSO’s editor), Mafalda Anjos, (REVISTA UNICA’s editor), Marco Grieco (art director) and Pedro Figueiral (design coordinator).
And Monica Balsemao (an “instant fan” of the new magazine) and her marketing team also did a superb job (as they did with the new EXPRESSO two years ago).
A great team for a great magazine.
Guillermo Nagore used the EXPRESSO fonts made by Mario Feliciano, and the Locator font from the Process Type Foundry.
Guillermo Nagore, journalist and designer, has 15 years of design experience, mostly in newspaper, magazines and book design. His first job out of Journalism school was Art Director of the official newspaper of the Olympics “Barcelona ’92″. Afterwards, he joined the firm Hopkins/Baumann in New York, a studio specialized in magazine design. In 2000, Nagore opened the Barcelona branch of the firm and in 2005 he went back to the U.S. to join The New York Times magazine. Since 2007 he also works as consultant for Innovation International Media Consulting Group.
Guillermo Nagore’s hand can be seen in magazines such as Architectural Digest, Reader’s Digest, Step by Step, Proyecto Contract, Play, Visão, as well as newspapers around the world such as Diário de Notícias (Madeira), El Universal (Caracas), Correio da Bahia or Emirates Business 24/7 (Dubai).
In October, Guillermo Nagore will be no longer designing publications, since he will join Stone Yamashita Partners as Creative Director in the New York office.
Tell us about the process behind Unica’s concept, what was the brief and how did your team get to it?
In this particular project I learned about the concept a little late in the game. Juan Antonio Giner (VP of Innovation), and Juan Caño and Marta Botero (consultants), had come up with a very innovative concept after meeting with the client and having a few brainstorming sessions. They called me afterwards to share their ideas and there wasn’t much to add because it was brilliant.
Unica was going to be a magazine structured like a dinner menu in a sofisticated restaurant, with appetizers, main course and desserts. The new Unica is what we call “fusion journalism”. The main course will always be a multi-faceted topic that is developed in the same way the famous chefs create a dish, mixing ingredients in unexpected ways.
How did you take this concept into account in your design?
After speaking with Juan Antonio, I realized this had to be a magazine with great quality and sofistication, and I instantly knew how I was going to do it. In the same way the great restaurants have a simple menu, I designed a cover with a small logo and little text, if none. The contents page was designed like a menu, and so on. I didn’t want to make all this too obvious, so all this is done with in a subtle way.
I always say that when someone reads Revista Unica, he should feel that is as entering as the first class in an airplane. So perhaps what I wanted to do with Unica is a design with class. I also had to do a kind of design different than that of the other Portuguese magazines, so it felt unique. Here is where i incorporated ways of designing I learned mostly in my years at The New York Times magazine Technical aspects aside (typefaces, grid, etc), what Unica requires is a lot of imagination from designers and editors. The covers are mostly conceptual, as are some of the stories.
How would you describe the new look of Unica?
Simple but not simplistic, sofisticated, intelligent, with light.
I really like the fake columns and the white space, is this a trend?
I think there is a trend in magazines towards less design elements and better use of white space, and towards less and better pictures. I have always used a 12-column grid for my magazines, and in Unica I experimented rarely using text on the first of the 12 in the first and last section of the magazine to see what happened. To my surprise, I found out most of the times works and liberates the page.
I can see that there’s a lot of emphasis on the photos. Expresso’s photographers are among the best in Portuguese media, but this design is really putting ‘the heat’ on them. Do you think that the design will be determining the choices of subjects in order to cope with the need of great photos?
In regards to photography there is a fundamental change in the way this magazine is designed. There is dialog between designers, editors and photographers way ahead of the design, which rarely happened before. Photographers are not longer providers of good pictures, but part of a team. The design is always based in what photos there are… or the lack of photos, when the idea is design-based. Paradoxically, the fact that there is a multifaceted topic to work with, and only one, has liberated the imagination of everyone, and the pictures are better. The magazine is not longer the place where you put the news pictures you have sitting around (those will go to Expresso, which will get enhanced), but the place where you “create”. As a photographer I would love to have both platforms, and not just one.
You have been working for the New York Times for some time now. What have you brought from that experience to Unica?
The New York Times magazine is known for its teamwork and the high standars of the design, and I tried to bring that into Unica. There is also a certain way of writing headlines and designing (simple but playful) I bring from that world, which is similar to other magazines like New York.
As a consultant for the world’s leading media consultant, what is the principal feature for a designer to be able to make redesigns as often as you do?
Be a good listener and be able of translating what you heard into a good design structure with the right typography. When you design, you should be able to justify editorially every design choice you make.
If you were giving a talk to freshmen designers, how would you describe the perfect way of a news room to work?
The good newsroom is one in which there is a strong editor that is very visual and designers with editorial skills. A place in which there is a respectful dialogue between word people and visual people. You need both kind of people to do something successful… and fun.
For you what is visual thinking?
The perfect world in which words and pictures speak the same language.