Body Copy
I believe that the typeface used for body copy is “Caslon”, or, at least something very similar to it. There is a great deal of consistency here, which I feel aligns with the clean elegance of the magazine’s design aesthetic. Every story uses the same typeface. This includes sidebars. Even the size stays the same in each story, whether it is a shorter piece or a full-,length feature.
The typeface suggests an elegance. It is a serif font, so that in itself is very classic. It is spacious, and a larger size than I am used to seeing in magazines. This gives it a nostalgic feel, but the roundedness of the letters feel very modern and chic at the same time. The larger size also feels very clean. I happen to know that the average readership for this magazine is over 50 years old, so a larger size might be strategic in that respect, as well.
Headlines
Headlines are often mixed up, as the magazine seems to enjoy playing with design, especially for features. For the most part, however, a font called “Sawdust” is used. It is a very unique serif font with extremely high contrast. For example, the “O” in “Contents” is very thin, and almost disappears at the bottom and top edges. It grows gradually thicker towards the left and right sides. Though there is very high contrast here, you can see there is also an elegance in the way it flows naturally, and not dramatically, from being thick and thin.
Cutlines
I believe the typeface used in the cutlines are DSType’s Leitura in italics. There are a lot of similarities between this and the body copy typeface. This is likely the reason that italics is used, to distinguish it from the body copy. The font is also smaller, but not as small as I will typically see it in other magazines. I wonder if this is because this magazine is very photo-heavy, and that editors feel photographers deserve more credit and recognition than they do in other magazines. That is, of course, pure conjecture based upon my limited experience. The typeface is serif, making it very legible and easy to read, but there are certain letters, such as the “n”, “u”, “e”, “a”, and “t” that have a tail that points upward and away from each individual letter. This adds a sense of quirkiness to the letters, and could likely appeal to the adventurous side of the high-end readers in the magazine’s audience.
