Welcome to the New Look of Frieze Magazine

In comedy, timing is everything. And what a strange time to relaunch  frieze  – with a new design, new formats for our features and a newly thematic front section of the magazine.

For May’s theme and my first issue as editor, we’re thinking about the art world’s love of comedy – from snarky meme-based criticism to the teens of TikTok to ‘artjacent’ arrivistes. As many of us are quarantined around the world, you may wonder what’s so funny about 2020? And what comedy – or art, for that matter – can offer us during such a dire moment. As it turns out, a lot of relief.

Humour, like great art and a great magazine, has the power to connect you with the world, whether you are stuck at home or far from it. Art and comedy produce a profound sense of recognition: that we are almost never really alone, even in our hardship. We wanted to address humour and art for this very reason. In the face of a crisis, sometimes all you can do is laugh, stay home, read. There’s hope in that.

And we hope you like the new look. A new typeface – Rhymes by Jakub Samek - is complemented by Swiss 721, a 20th-century sans-serif classic, and wider margins make for an easier reading experience. Meanwhile, a redesigned layout, by creative director David Lane and design director Lorenz Klingebiel, allows more space for images and the work of the artists we cover. These, together with a little playfulness, make up the new look of frieze.  

Like what you see? Save 30% on the cover price and receive a free frieze tote bag when you subscribe to the magazine. Find out more here.