Aperture #255: Design Issue

Aperture Introduces a New Look with "The Design Issue"

Summer Issue Features Leading Voices in Photography, Architecture, and Fashion

Aperture introduces a new look for the magazine with "The Design Issue," featuring previously unpublished images by Luigi Ghirri, a profile of the artist and jewelry designer Coreen Simpson, interviews with the celebrated fashion designer Duro Olowu and the design writer Alice Rawsthorn, and dynamic portfolios that speak to the myriad ways in which the fields of photography and design are intertwined. "The Design Issue" also features three unique covers with images by David Hartt, Luigi Ghirri, and Dayanita Singh.

Aperture continues to be designed by the award-winning, London-based studio A2/SW/HK. Updated elements include a refreshed cover and changes to typefaces, layout, and scale. "This new, inviting format is inspired by the early issues of the magazine. We hope to honor the editorial spirit that has driven this publication since 1952: a commitment to presenting a spectrum of ideas and photography, from past and present, thoughtfully considered through engaging, approachable writing and a thoughtful design," said Michael Famighetti, editor in chief of Aperture.

In "The Design Issue," Olowu speaks with the editor Dan Thawley about how his deep knowledge of photography has informed his fashion line. Thessaly La Force visits Coreen Simpson, who made portraits of New York City's artistic and nightlife scenes and later found success as a jewelry designer. Alice Rawsthorn speaks with Billie Muraben about how designers respond to evolving technology and politics. And Mimi Zeiger considers David Hartt's interventions with the built environment and iconic buildings, including Philip Johnson's Glass House.

In elegant, spare images, Dayanita Singh presents her long-term engagement with the architects Geoffrey Bawa and Bijoy Jain. Luigi Ghirri's 1980s images from the Ferrari factory, in Italy, demonstrate the photographer's fascination with industrial design. New work by Daniel Shea, Paul Kooiker, and Nhu Xuan Hua show photography's boundless potential to tell stories about urban change, identity, and sartorial politics. This issue also features Avion Pearce, the winner of the 2024 Aperture Portfolio Prize, whose work will be presented in June at Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York; columns feature Stefan Ruiz, Akihiko Okamura, and Olivia Laing; and features in The PhotoBook Review highlight Alexey Brodovitch's iconic art direction and Polymode, a bicoastal, queer, and minority-owned studio who are rethinking design histories.