''Grafik'' was a specialist London-based magazine on

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

and

visual culture Visual culture is the aspect of culture expressed in visual images. Many academic fields study this subject, including cultural studies, art history, critical theory, philosophy, media studies, Deaf Studies, and anthropology. The field of vi ...

History

''Grafik'' lasted nearly a quarter century as an independently published magazine. It started life as ''Hot Graphics International'' in the mid '80s during the ‘

Digital Revolution The Information Age is a History by period, historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on info ...

’. With help from Meta and a new editor Tim Rich, the magazine was transformed into a monthly magazine ''Graphics International''. In 2001 Caroline Roberts took over the role of editor and in July 2003 the magazine underwent a radical transformation of

rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

and re-designing by London-based graphic design agency MadeThought. The magazine was now called ''Grafik''. In 2009 the role of

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

and editor-in-chief was taken over by Caroline Roberts, the new

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

was Angharad Lewis, and the magazine was re-designed by Swedish graphic designer and art director Matilda Saxow. In June 2010 the company which published ''Grafik'', Adventures in Publishing Ltd., went into administration and was eventually liquidated; as a result, the magazine ceased publication for an eight-month period. Editor-in-chief Caroline Roberts and Editor Angharad Lewis secured the rights to the name and assets of ''Grafik'', and in October 2010 it was announced that the magazine would relaunch at the beginning of 2011. The magazine was relaunched in February 2011 with a new publisher, Pyramyd, new designer, Michael Bojkowski and a revised editorial format created by a London-based agency called Woodbridge & Rees, formed by the previous editors. In December 2011, Pyramyd decided to cease publication of the magazine. ''Grafik'' reemerged as a website in March 2014 under the editorial direction of former editors Caroline Roberts and Angharad Lewis, with a new editorial team and published in London by Protein. In 2018 William Rowe (director of Protein) teamed up with Marcroy Smith (director of People of Print LTD) to form a new company called ''Grafik Media Ltd'' which is geared at bringing the magazine back into a printed publication and a global brand. The first step was creating ''Grafik Editions'' which is in partnership with The PrintSpace in Shoreditch, London to create limited edition archival prints by leading visual artists and graphic designers. They then moved into production of Grafik branded items and also launched ''Grafik Projects'' as a means to share the work of exceptional graphic design work across their publishing online platforms and act as a fundraising method towards the resurrection of Grafik Magazine. They hope to launch the new magazine Mid-2022.

About ''Grafik''

The magazine focuses on contemporary graphic design and international visual culture. Regular features include reviews of notable design events and exhibitions, showcases of emerging and established talent, critical viewpoints and special reports, often covering a piece of

design history Design history is the study of objects of design in their historical and stylistic contexts. With a broad definition, the contexts of design history include the social, the cultural, the economic, the political, the technical and the aesthetic. ...

with a particular relevance for today. There are also regular features on logoforms and

letterform A letterform, letter-form or letter form is a term used especially in typography, palaeography, calligraphy and epigraphy to mean a letter (alphabet), letter's shape. A letterform is a type of glyph, which is a specific, concrete way of writing a ...

s, and copious book reviews of both graphic design books and those of a more general interest to the creative community.

References

External links

*{{Official website, www.grafik.net 2003 establishments in the United Kingdom 2011 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct visual arts magazines published in the United Kingdom Bi-monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct design magazines Defunct magazines published in London Magazines established in 2003 Magazines disestablished in 2011 Online magazines with defunct print editions