There’s a certain European “interiors” publication has made a unique design for the spine of each issue of its magazine. Regular visitors to this site can probably guess the name of that magazine. It’s the Italian-Spanish design and interior decor magazine Apartamento (pictured above). It’s what was called in the magazine business a “shelter mag.” But Apartamento‘s very existence and direction transcended the category for its inception. In it’s distinct way, it is the anti-shelter mag. The spines of its issue are different for each issue. Usually it’s a strictly visual, sans-text, abstract and monochromatic or black-and-white graphical design. From across the the room, it’s immediately recognizable. When a half-dozen or so back issue of the mag are stacked together on a bookshelf, the effect is greater than the sum of the parts. Copies of Apartmento are “a keeper,” as they say.
GLOBAL GRAPHICA 