It’s interesting to see the impact of the Internet on printed media, and not just on the superficial level of distribution and advertising, but also how it’s affected the content of printed media as a reaction to the overwhelming overload of information in the digital age. Mostly, it appears to have triggered a counter-reaction, with print magazines seeing their future in slowing down, thoroughly editing and filtering editorial content for bite-sized consumption, falling back onto classic design – the success of titles such as Fantastic Man, Apartamento or The Travel Almanac proving it to be a working strategy.
On the other end, one might interpret the over-eager quest of Monocle to take it all in now or Pin-Up’s view of architecture as one giant three-dimensional collage board as a direct response to the hyper-ventilating pace of digital life. But maybe no title has soaked up the anything goes excitement of the Internet more than our friends at 032c, whose latest issue is possibly their best to date. Juxtaposing Nicolas Ghesquiere’s utter modernity with a draft on the friendship between David Hockney and RB Kitaj, opposing Werner Herzog’s old-fashioned eccentricity with German teenage literature scandal Helene Hegemann, or presenting ethereal Cate Blanchett in bondage gear – 032c have arrived at a dizzying, mind-expanding level that is loosely held together by an overbearing excitement for the new and the now, loosely connecting dots and making cross-references that are as obscure as they are refreshing. Reflected in the wonderfully irreverent design by Mike Meiré that is at the exact opposite end of his ultra classic design for brand eins, the Internet has spawned an intellectual sparring partner in print that leaves you just as exhilarated, confused, entertained, overfed and stimulated.
