Monocle Alpino, Anti-iPad Device

Monocle’s Alpino newspaper may be called an experiment, but it’s a successful extension to the Monocle brand—a great variation on a theme. Monocle Alpino is the second run—the first was Monocle Mediterraneo—in a series of region specific newspapers from the publishers of Monocle Magazine. Monocle’s editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé calls their newspaper an “anti-iPad device.” Jokes of screen glare aside, it’s hard to ignore the superiority of reading print. Here are some highlights of Monocle’s bi-yearly newspaper.

It’s substantial. The format is 460 × 590 millimeters (18 × 23 inches) for the spread (Golden Rectangle-ish for the page), printed on thick newsprint, and saddle stitched.

The print is very crisp. It’s printed with a high line screen, which is very “anti-iPad.”

Great type. Like their magazine, the text is set in Plantin—one of the most elegant typefaces to use for newsprint. Numbers in some of the titles use Hoefler & Frere-Jones’ Strasse.

Every ad gets its own space—a page or an entire spread—which is nice compared with the typically newspaper format of scattering small ads about the spread.

The best photography and illustration around. Richard Spencer Powell knows how to pick them.

And of course, the content is good too. Always inspiring.

Monocle Alpino and Mediterraneo are available through the Monocle website for £8.00 an issue.

24 Comments

Morgan Smail

January 6, 2011 at 11:21 am Reply

Monocle’s newspaper is definitely the most beautiful paper I’ve ever seen. Solid layout.

James Reyman

January 6, 2011 at 11:42 am Reply

The entire concept here is wonderful and it looks like a beautiful piece. I’ll have to try and pick one up. I like Monocle magazine a lot.

Tweets that mention Monocle Alpino, Anti-iPad Device | Type Desk -- Topsy.com

January 6, 2011 at 11:49 am Reply

[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Theo Rosendorf, Brandon Ricci and others. Brandon Ricci said: Great addition to my winter, Read it on the train to the Alps! RT @theorosendorf: Monocle Alpino, Anti-iPad Device http://bit.ly/i5X6QT […]

Theo Rosendorf

January 6, 2011 at 2:30 pm Reply

It’s funny. Whenever I post about anything from Monocle, the younger crowd doesn’t respond to it at all. Zip, zero, nothing.

I feel so… targeted.

January 6, 2011 at 2:44 pm Reply

Monocle is definitely targeted more toward grown folks cause it’s content-driven. Wallpaper* is the type of publication people of all ages are attracted to because there’s a lot more eye-candy.

January 6, 2011 at 3:14 pm Reply

I seem to remember Wallpaper being more content driven back in the late 90s. I could be biased tho.

January 6, 2011 at 3:33 pm Reply

That’s probably because that’s when Tyler Brulé still owned it.

Fred Stevens-Smith

February 4, 2011 at 9:13 am Reply

Theo, I disagree about the age thing — I’m 23, and I and a lot of my friends read Monocle religiously.

You don’t have to be old to appreciate artistry in production 🙂

February 20, 2011 at 4:54 pm Reply

Hey Fred, good to hear it.

Nice work on your site by the way.

Curating content in a multi-platform world | portfolio

June 13, 2011 at 5:40 pm Reply

[…] Of the many evolutions that have changed the rules of the game, the portability of content is undoubtedly one of the most perplexing ones. On one end, for instance, famed Canadian editor Tyler Brûlé is doubtful of the capacity of new devices to significantly alter the production of content. The current and sudden interest in portable devices, he says, is nothing but a distraction, a way for editors to avoid the necessary, strategic rethinking of the role of content in contemporary media. After launching Monocle, in 2007 (which reached a distribution of 150,000 within two years of its launch), Brûlé has significantly progressed the brand, launching a series of bi-annual newspapers under the titles Monocle Mediterraneo and Monocle Alpino. Interviewed on Bloomberg in July 2010, Brûlé states that, in his view, “there’s nothing that really beats newsprints still”. Accordingly, the “luxury newspapers” he edits are distributed throughout Europe and in pockets in North America and Southeast Asia, and mostly conceived as “anti-iPad devices”. […]

Daniel Genser

February 8, 2012 at 6:02 pm Reply

Funny you mention Monocle being content-heavy. I don’t find it content-heavy at all – it does draw from an incredibly diverse and interesting range of subjects, but the content feels shallow. It’s opinionated editorially, which I like, but it doesn’t go very deep. Most of the pieces are a paragraph or three in length, at best.

Anonymous

February 8, 2012 at 7:09 pm

Content heavy/driven… I’d say they have a good focus on content. I’m not sure more words constitute quality, but it [Monocle] seems to be a good length with both stories and the overall issue length.
Shallow? Maybe sometimes, but it is after all a lifestyle magazine. They try hard to please. They care. The writing is good, for the most part.
Theo

March 22, 2012 at 3:22 am

That’s a good way to put it, Theo. I think since Monocle’s design is so good and their perspective is so interesting, it’s more that I want them to go more long form sometimes to explain and expand on some of the bold statements they sometimes make.