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.