New Work: First Things

The past year marked the start of an exciting new presentation for First Things, the journal published 10 times a year by the Institute on Religion and Public Life. Pentagram’s Luke Hayman and Shigeto Akiyama have significantly redesigned the ecumenical journal, an interdenominational publication disseminating Institute news, intellectual essays and poetry.

The cover of each new issue now features a striking ink drawing by illustrator Leanne Shapton set against a deep solid ground color, replacing the former text only cover. The journal logo has been redesigned with a custom-tailored font to evoke traditional handcrafted lettering one might find in a church.

Additional improvements include the introduction of color photography on coated paper in the journal’s Reports and Reviews sections. The color photos provide a complementary contrast to the book-like uncoated paper and two-column grid of the Essays section, appropriate to the in-depth articles found in this department. Throughout the publication the font used for the main text is Sabon; the display face, Perpetua Titling, echoes the origins of the logo.

During the redesign Pentagram worked closely with executive editor David Blum, editor Joseph Bottum and managing editor Mary Rose Somarriba.