Apt Portfolio

Granta has roots as a political journal as far back as 1889. It was reincarnated as “the magazine of new writing” by Bill Buford in the 1970s, and recently celebrated the publication of its 101st issue. This issue was not only a landmark achievement, but also the first under the editorship of Jason Cowley, appointed in 2007 by new owner Sigrid Rausing.

Whilst a publishing project, the reinvention of Granta’s web presence to coincide with a reinvigorated magazine (redesigned by GTF and the Observer’s Carolyn Roberts) brought its own new challenges. How to open up the magazine content (and phenomenal archive) to a new, international, web-literate audience? How to add value to existing subscribers whilst building new ones? How to deal with the brand architecture of the magazine and the books imprint?

It was imperative we relaunched a site to coincide with the new look of the magazine, so we agreed on a two-pronged strategy. Phase one launched in April 2008 to coincide with the publication of Issue 101, and features the new look, a stripped back archive, a new “Online Only” section of (often multimedia and photographic) content exclusive to the web, but often in support of the magazine features.

Phase two will launch in the summer, and is much more ambitious in terms of features and content. The full archive of 100 issues has been digitised, and will be made available over time, both online and in RSS. There will also be back issue sales, online subscriptions, and lots more.

Client: Granta Magazine.
Producer: Peter Collingridge.
Design: James Bridle.
Programming: Alex Fiennes & Guy Bolton King

Visit Granta.com.