Bitch magazine is quite average in size, as its print issue is 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches and usually encompasses around 88 pages. However, what’s not so average is its massive masthead/logo right on the cover page. Its logo takes up at least 1/3 of the cover page, as its about 8 1/2 inches by 3 inches. Not only is the size of the magazine’s name (“bitch”) rather large, but the typeface “bitch” is in is rather thick, which makes it look like it takes up even more room on the page, just giving it an overall dominant presence on the page.
Besides its very notable name/masthead, what I love most about Bitch is its excellent use of white space throughout the magazine. The magazine definitely keeps its look quite clean and does not add any images or graphics just “for the sake of it”. On the two pages introducing both the Features section of the magazine and the Culture section of the magazine, there are actually no images whatsoever, the pages are bare and are simply just covered in neutral colors.
The first two features “American Pain” and “Love Removal Machine” are similar in that they give a break to the reader’s eye by inserting a full-page image into the story that bleeds out into the page’s margins. It also feels like the reader is getting somewhat of a break throughout the story as well, as the gutter size seems to be rather large, especially when compared to magazines like The Atlantic. With a gutter size of about 0.4 inches and there only being two 3 1/2- wide inch columns on each page of the feature section, there is a fair amount of white space that doesn’t make the text look too dense or cluttered
The last feature “Gone” is perhaps my favorite. It is actually a photo essay and I quite admire the use of space here. A total of 10 black and white photos are used in this photo essay and they are assorted in a way in which they overlap each other and bleed into the margins of the page, truly showing that the mere physical page of the magazine is not a space of limitation, but more of a space of creativity and innovation.
