Solo

El País Semanal

The rebirth of an editorial icon

El País Semanal is an iconic publication in Spain. The bond between this magazine and its readers is very strong and intimate. It emerged at a critical time in (our) contemporary social and political history and represents, together with the newspaper El País, the origins and framework of a new style of journalism.

In recent years, El País Semanal has been losing ground and relevance among its readers. Our work focused on recovering certain essential values, both in terms of form and content, with the aim of rediscovering classic elements and using them innovatively, without nostalgia. 

This return to its roots meant re-establishing certain traditional practices of high-quality journalism, such as an austere use of colour and a return to traditional typography, both in the main text and the title. In addition, the return of the classic header, to which the word "Semanal" was added as an extension, gave the magazine the shine and personality that have transformed it into a benchmark publication. 

Photography plays a key role. High-quality images need to be displayed in a high-quality medium and we worked hard to push this space to the foreground and to maximise the impact of these images. We chose to restructure the balance of photographs in the magazine to create a clearer and more rational display; photographs of blood in the middle of the page with the impact required to illustrate the article and to interpret its less obvious points.

Finally, we also changed the organisational structure to stick to the pace required for a 100-page weekly publication with such a wide range of content, collaborators and texts. EPS's emblematic weight and its iconic character led us to opt for broad-ranging journalism, high-quality graphics and illustrations and a design at the service of excellently reported news stories, both big and small.