Zadig magazine

Zadig is a French magazine published four times a year, starting in 2019. The name refers to the protagonist of Voltaire’s 1747 novella Zadig ou la Destinée (Zadig; or, The Book of Fate) and was chosen as flag to the publication for his resilience in overcoming rejections and setbacks. Which directly leads us into the two topics of this post: the typeface making the title and innovative formats in printed journalism in France.

The Zadig logotype is directly derived from Signal, with a customized A that resembles a metal sort as used in letterpress printing, as much as the carotte rouge, the distinctly shaped sign marking French tobacco shops – which typcially also sell newspapers and magazines.

Signal is a typeface designed by Emmanuel Besse and published by Production Type from Paris. It was inspired by French road signage and meanwhile grew into a collection of three variants: Signal, Signal Mono and Signal Compressed. The pictures illustrating this post mostly show Signal Bold in all-caps use for headlines. It’s combined with Kai Bernau’s oldstyle roman Lyon for the reading text and, at times, with François Rappo’s slab-serif Clarendon Graphic.

Zadig wants to tell France through the lenses of the many Frances in existence. Every issue revolves around one topic that will be reflected by authors from the most diverse backgrounds. The magazine is free from advertising and therefore – while easily available at newsstands and in bookshops – dependent on subscribers. Graphic design and production are high end, with carefully chosen paper, accurate layout and typesetting in conjunction with tasteful illustration and photography.

The masterminds behind Zadig are Natalie Thiriez for the art direction and Éric Fottorino for the journalistic project. Long-time collaborator and director of Le Monde from 2007 to 2010, Fottorino meanwhile established himself as the motor of innovation in printed press in France. After launching Le 1 (“The One”) in 2014 as a weekly newspaper consisting of just one broadsheet folded multiple times, he co-founded America in 2017 in order to accompany Donald Tump’s presidency. His latest brainchild is Légende (2020), a magazine featuring outstanding protagonists of contemporary history. And all of these projects are realized with the stunning art direction of Natalie Thiriez.

For Zadig, Thiriez is assisted by Claire Hennebo. The graphic design is by Aurélie Colliot. The original cover concept was developed in 2019 by be-poles, a studio that has since been renamed to Ateliers Saint-Lazare.