Aperture Introduces New Look with "The Design Issue"

New York, June 4, 2024—Aperture introduces a new look for the magazine with “The Design Issue,” featuring previously unpublished images by Luigi Ghirri, a profile of the artist and jewelry designer Coreen Simpson, interviews with the celebrated fashion designer Duro Olowu and the design writer Alice Rawsthorn, and dynamic portfolios that speak to the myriad ways in which the fields of photography and design are intertwined. “The Design Issue” also features three unique covers with images by David Hartt, Luigi Ghirri, and Dayanita Singh.

Aperture continues to be designed by the award- winning, London-based studio A2/SW/HK. Updated elements include a refreshed cover and changes to typefaces, layout, and scale. “This new, inviting format is inspired by the early issues of the magazine. We hope to honor the editorial spirit that has driven this publication since 1952: a commitment to presenting a spectrum of ideas and photography, from past and present, considered through engaging, approachable writing and a thoughtful design,” said Michael Famighetti, editor in chief of Aperture.

In “The Design Issue,” Olowu speaks with the editor Dan Thawley about how his deep knowledge of photography has informed his fashion line. Thessaly La Force visits Coreen Simpson, who made portraits of New York City’s artistic and nightlife scenes and later found success as a jewelry designer. Alice Rawsthorn speaks with Billie Muraben about how designers respond to evolving technology and politics. And Mimi Zeiger considers David Hartt’s interventions with the built environment and iconic buildings, including Philip Johnson’s Glass House.

In elegant, spare images, Dayanita Singh presents her long-term engagement with the architects Geoffrey Bawa and Bijoy Jain. Luigi Ghirri’s 1980s images from the Ferrari factory, in Italy, demonstrate the photographer’s fascination with industrial design. New work by Daniel Shea, Paul Kooiker, and Nhu Xuan Hua show photography’s boundless potential to tell stories about urban change, identity, and sartorial politics.

This issue also features Avion Pearce, the winner of the 2024 Aperture Portfolio Prize, whose work will be presented in June at Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York; columns feature Stefan Ruiz, Akihiko Okamura, and Olivia Laing; and features in The PhotoBook Review highlight Alexey Brodovitch’s iconic art direction and Polymode, a bicoastal, queer, and minority-owned studio who are rethinking design histories.

For more information and to preview select content from the issue, visit aperture.org/magazine.

Inside the issue…
Columns & Features

Cutting a Figure
The fashion designer Duro Olowu’s endless curiosity
A conversation with Dan Thawley

Paradise Lost
David Hartt reveals the tensions between architecture and history
Mimi Zeiger

Ferrari by Luigi Ghirri
The Italian photographer’s study of the mythic carmaker
Michael Famighetti

Better Living
Dayanita Singh finds common ground in the work of two architects
Tausif Noor

Empire Plaza
Daniel Shea explores a utopian dream in Albany
Julian Rose

Design Touches Everything
The critic Alice Rawsthorn on design as a response to life
A conversation with Billie Muraben

Off the Wall
The many possibilities of photography exhibitions
David Campany and Sara Knelman

The Shape of Things
How do images make products irresistible?
Jesse Dorris

Past Lives
Coreen Simpson’s artistic avatars
Thessaly La Force

Dream Sequence
Uncanny realities inspire Nhu Xuan Hua’s pictures
Larissa Pham

The Theater of Paul Kooiker
A fresh voice in fashion deploys oddity and improvisation
Vince Aletti

Support has been provided by members of Aperture’s Magazine Council: Jon Stryker and Slobodan Randjelovic, Susan and Thomas Dunn, Kate Cordsen and Denis O’Leary, and Michael W. Sonnenfeldt, MUUS Collection.

About Aperture
Aperture is a nonprofit publisher that leads conversations around photography worldwide. From its base in New York, Aperture con- nects global audiences and supports artists through its acclaimed quarterly magazine, books, exhibitions, digital platforms, public programs, limited-edition prints, and awards. Established in 1952 to advance “creative thinking, significantly expressed in words and photographs, Aperture champions photography’s vital role in nurturing curiosity and encouraging a more just, tolerant society.

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Press Contact
Lauren Van Natten, +1.212.946.7151, publicity@aperture.org