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The next chapter of music journalism
The
next
chapter
of
music journalism
Wax Poetics has been a household
name among the world's music
enthusiasts since its launch in 2000.
Originally a bi-annual magazine they are
well known for their world-class music
journalism. Digging deeper and
exploring stories about the music
trailblazers, cultures, and movements.
After repositioning in 2019, they
approached us to refresh their identity
and develop a unique online platform
aimed at vitalising their readership and
bringing something unique to the world
music community.
An analog system for a digital world
Their previous identity was centred around
a confident and timeless wordmark but
lacked a recognisable system and the
unique attitude found in their writing. After
workshopping with the founders, we got
experimental with their desire to keep that
gritty analogue feel, creating a ‘lived in
and earthy feel’ matching their original
magazines textured feel and off white
colours. We wanted to pay homage to
unique details that real music fans would
recognise.
Speaking the fans language
We ensembled a neutral palette that was
inspired by the colors of worn records.
Twinning them with an extensive vintage
secondary suite that was inspired by a
wide breadth of record genres.
To get that analog feel, we harnessed real
grit and paper textures from scanned old
records and sleeves. Accompanied by
some hand-drawn notations, referencing
those infamous editor's markups and
irritation record scratches.
We created a new type system, pairing a
super punchy grotesque headline font
with an elegant serif for legibility and
sophistication. Striking that balance
between character and timelessness.
The
new
cohesive
identity
allowed
them
to
raise
over
110k
on
Kickstarter
and
re-ignite
the
next
chapter
of
Wax
Poetics.
Creating a timeless platform
Featuring 400+ articles from the past 20
years of Wax Poetics, alongside mixes,
albums, a collection of fresh pieces, and
brand new weekly content drops from the
world’s leading music writers. This was a
big undertaking to create a beautiful and
functional platform that can stand the test
of time.
We worked closely with the client and the
editorial team to nail down their content
streams. Separating out the content into
some ‘key channels’ and creating a
smooth subscription flow.
We wanted to bring that analog thinking
into the design, therefore the layout has a
very editorial masthead feel, with wide-set
type headlines and diverse content blocks
putting the stories first.
Articles and content
With most articles being over 1000 words,
we needed a really tight type hierarchy
and varied components to make each
read seamless. By creating a chaptering
system and analog page turn - users can
navigate long-form articles smoothly.
Rediscovery
One unique piece of content
‘Re:Discovery’ , reviews of old, unknown,
and rare albums. We created a unique
experience to ‘dig’ through these,
re-creating that infamous record store
experience.
It's not every day you get to building a music platform with such a rich heritage.
The Wax Poetics relaunch has so
far onboarded over 2,000
subscribers, creating a newly
revived community that can read,
listen, watch and discover with
like-minded music fans from
across the world.
We continue to work with the Wax Poetics
team to evolve the platform and brand,
check back for updates. A massive thanks
to Dave, Alex, Brian, and the Wax Poetics
team.
