Graphic Design That Works

“It’s more than a magazine—it’s a movement.”

You’d expect this kind of statement from a grassroots title like

Utne Reader,

but it seems a strange assertion from a

business magazine. Yet that’s the groundwork on which

Fast Company

is built and, among loyal readers, the six-year-

old title is a staple of the changing business culture. From its inception, the design has been integral in the “move-

ment” by screaming for change through bold covers, unconventional images, and a propensity for breaking the rules.

WHY IT WORKS:

Fast Company

incites readers to embrace new ideas with bold, illustrative type and intrigues them with insightful,

entertaining photography. Once covers and opening spreads draw them in, basic layout and a careful use of white

space keep them hooked through long articles.

Fast Company

The Best in Entrepreneurial Ideas

Job:12-84823 Title:RP-Graphic Design That Works (LDW)

175# Dtp:120/163 Page:168

Text (DS)

far left The cover of

Fast Company

is emblazoned

with the brilliant ideas and quotes of people profiled

inside. Loud colors, humorous graphics, and sensa-

tional type reflect the creative energy of these entre-

preneurs and experts.

left When they’re not all-text proclamations, covers

often feature funny illustrations. Here, the March

2000 cover portrays the “battle for the soul” of the

economy, in which the devil has spray painted over

the original headline.

166-173 84823 12/12/05 7:38 AM Page 168

Job:12-84823 Title:RP-Graphic Design That Works (LDW)

175# Dtp:120/163 Page:169

Text (DS)

W)

68

Fast Company

positions itself as the mouthpiece for a

radical new breed of businesspeople who invent the

rules as they go along. “

Fast Company

was the first

business magazine to fully realize that the Internet

was about to change everything,” says creative director

Patrick Mitchell. “For our audience, it changed the way

people worked, where they worked, the way they man-

aged people, the way they communicated.”

Founded in 1995 by two former editors from

Harvard

Business Review,

the magazine has grown to include a

well-known Web site, an organization of readers

called Community of Friends, and an education pro-

gram as part of its brand.

The formula has been wildly popular and, amid com-

petition from other new economy titles, it experienced

exponential growth. Paid subscriptions soared 500

percent since the magazine’s inception, while news-

stand sales increased 155 percent.

The magazine targets businesspeople who have big

ideas, uninhibited energy, and the strength and posi-

tioning to make a difference. Readers tend to be in po-

sitions of power at established or startup companies,

yet young and open-minded enough to plow through

convention. According to the magazine’s media kit,

“Their goal is to overthrow the status quo.”

Fast Company’s

design reflects this maverick way of

doing business. “The goal of the design was to cap-

ture the excitement and almost revolutionary under-

tones of what was happening in business and

society,” says Mitchell.

Radical Business Ideas

left and below The

photograph and reversed

page of text create ten-

sion appropriate to an

article about a grassroots

organizer against free

trade. A complex green

grid growing out of the

F

in the headline plays off

the colors in the photo

and other text and mim-

ics the shot on the fol-

lowing spread.

169

166-173 84823 12/12/05 7:38 AM Page 169