Radical Philosophy, issues 26–38
Radical Philosophy 26, Autumn 1980
First printed in 1972, Radical Philosophy has since been a long standing bastion for the critical theory and philosophy of the New Left. Still in print, the magazine has a rich history of covers and articles, accessible via a great online archive. Scrolling through the covers, I was most captivated by a great run spanning issue 26 (autumn 1980) to 38 (summer 1984), easily identifiable by their Cooper Black nameplate.
The monochromatic covers follow a general, but far from fixed, layout of headlines set in floating Times Bold accompanied by an illustration or photograph — more or less along the lines of what one would expect of a publication like this, produced in the late phototype era. More intriguing are issue 34 and 37 respectively. These two stray from the template not only with the use of Univers, but by breaking with all and any kinds of stylistic continuity.
Issue 34 employs repetition and glyph swapping in a way that feels strikingly contemporary, like the long lost link between academia and post-Kanye streetwear. No. 37 on the other hand feeds a bit more into the narrative of ’80s kitsch, yet with such stylish irony that it could have easily come out of a Trendlist best-of.
Radical Philosophy 27–31, Spring 1981–Summer 1982
Radical Philosophy 32, Autumn 1982
Radical Philosophy 34, Summer 1983
Radical Philosophy 36, Spring 1984
Radical Philosophy 37, Summer 1984
Radical Philosophy 38, Summer 1984
