Brand of the Day: Continuum

When you hear “American Academy of Neurology,” the first thing that springs to mind probably isn’t design—but that might be about to change.

Pentagram has released its redesign of Continuum, the AAN’s bimonthly continuing education journal. As the firm writes, “Continuum is the most academic of the AAN publications, dense with information. The goal of the update, the first since its launch in 1993, was to make the editorial design more accessible, straightforward and visually appealing.”

Working in collaboration with editor Steven L. Lewis, partners Luke Hayman and Eddie Opara and their team made a major shift by moving the table of contents that’s ubiquitous on the covers of academic journals to the back cover in favor of concept-rich illustrations by Peter Grundy, paired with text set in Greg Lindy’s Fabriga.

Color is a key part of the redesign as well; with its gold-orange hues, the magazine pays homage to the gold metallic tones that used to appear on its covers, and sections employ a color-coded organizational system.

Anyone who has ever strained their eyes in the pages of an academic journal will also be relieved to read that white space has made a glorious return, and a new hierarchy system has been implemented.

All in all, a thoughtful, design-minded approach to an esteemed journal of the mind.