With editorial branding whiz Dirk Barnett now at the creative helm of The New Republic, the magazine is preparing to roll out a bold new look. “We have one shot at stopping people at Hudson News, or the iTunes store, or in their Google Chrome browser, so we wanted a logo that stands tall, and demands a presence, without being too in-your-face,” said Barnett of the fresh, all-caps treatment (starring Antenna, in extra-condensed black) that will replace the magazine’s staid and serif-based signature. “As we designed our first covers with it, we knew we had something vital. And energetic!”

Boosting the 98-year-old publication’s energy is at the core of the top-to-bottom redesign that will debut on January 28 across platforms: print, web, and mobile. In fact, the overhaul began with the digital realm. “By the time I had joined the team, our impressive website design team, Hard Candy Shell, was already halfway through their work on the redesign of The New Republic website, and I quickly found inspiration in the work they were doing,” noted Barnett, who is also determined to balance the old and the new. “My first few trips to The New Republic‘s D.C. offices were spent poring through back issues. There are definitely some new design details in the redesign that owe their inspiration to those old magazines. And the first cover of The New Republic, from 1914, is a work of art.”

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