This typographic design was found in an article from the premium 1993 issue of WIRED magazine. WIRED has a mission to share alternative news, information, and stories that the mainstream media rejects or neglects to share with the public. The publication covers stories about digital evolution all the way to alternative social types and lifestyles.
Cellular Phreaks & Code Dudes is an article about a group of underground cellular phone enthusiasts, computer scientists and computer programmers who engaged in illegal cellular hacking to further digital evolution. This group felt limited by the options offered on the first cell phones so they hacked phone chips enabling custom preferences and capabilities.
The purpose of this design is to bring positive attention to the underground trend of cellular chip hacking.
I find the custom title, Phreaks, very playful and intense, and it’s really working for me! The heavy red font with a rough finish was probably created to resemble the 1990’s pixelated graphics. I like the attention to detail. I would rather have this custom title for a societally rebellious articlet rather than auto-set type.
I also find the layout thought provoking. Two columns tightly form a rectangular negative space around the title and description. This space looks like a cellular chip emphasizing the subhead, “hacking chips on cellular phones”. The body columns are slightly curved. When looking at the entire unified composition it instantly feels like the body of a cell phone.
As cell phones evolved so did the hacking. People who were hijacking phone chips thought of themselves as renaissance scientists testing new technological limits of cellular devices. Maybe this is why the columns were made to bloat outwards and become slightly rounded. The curves visually represent hacker’s intense push of limits.
Inevitably the main issue was created by the layout. Column stretching created a kerning problem. There are endless rivers flowing down the design, which makes the black type hard to read on a saturated yellow background.
This bold old design prompts the viewer to focus on the big picture. The alt-designer created unity enabling WIRED lifestyle point of view to shine. I imagine this conceptually strong design delivery insighted extreme interest from their vibrantly creative alt-audience.
