Psychology Today Editorial typographic illustration

Psychology Today was launched in 1967 with the intent of making psychology literature more accessible to the general public. They briefed design studio Superfried to develop a typographic illustration and marque for their 50th Anniversary edition of the magazine.

The client supplied a 3D type based reference and requested that the illustration should convey the alphanumeric: PT50. Since it was for their 50th, rather than replicating the highly polished renders featured in the reference visual, I wanted to go more retro with a nod to their heritage. Also, due to the nature of their content, I wanted to create forms that mentally challenged the reader. This led to the idea of using isometric, mind-bending structures within the illustration design.

Various ways to interconnect the letterforms were considered, before an apt two colour palette of black and gold was applied to the selected route. With the illustration complete, a logo marque to carry the theme through the feature was requested. For consistency the isometric perspective was continued via a hexagonal frame and '50' based on the existing letterforms created.