🥞 #001: Print is so back
Our first digest, a preview of the next print issue and deep diving on syrupy type with Tina Smith
Print is so back, and so is Morgenmete. Five years since the inaugural issue of Morgenmete was published, I’m happy to share that our journal is re-emerging—and it’s entering a market that’s even more full of incredible and inspiring reads than before. In this inaugural issue of the breakfast digest, I ruminate on the state of print publishing, share a preview of our upcoming second issue, and describe the process of crafting a new brand. Let’s jump in!
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Morgenmete Digest. We aim to publish a once-a-month collection of breakfast trends, delicious finds, and delightfully fun pieces along with a more in-depth piece written by a guest writer. It will be presented by me, Tim Lampe, editor-in-chief and creative director of Morgenmete. Who am I? For those reading this for the first time, or maybe a friend accidentally forwarded this to you by mistake, I am a breakfast enthusiast with roots in the creative industry. Day-to-day I’m usually crafting brand direction for incredible brands like working in house over the years at Apple, Slack, MailChimp, Zendesk and Loom. I’ve had published narrative work in First We Feast, VSCO artist initiatives and CNN, with recognition in TIME Magazine, Garden & Gun, Instagram blog and VSCO. I’ve been publishing Morgenmete since 2019 as a space for creative exploration around the setting of breakfast.
What can you expect in this issue? I will ruminate on the state of independent print publishing and the journey to our second print issue, which I will preview. Afterward we will have a deeper dive on developing the brand and more specifically, the custom wordmark with type designer Tina Smith. Let’s jump in!
Top of the Morning
Since Morgenmete’s first issue, the fortunes of many print publications seem to be rebounding. A personal favorite, established food magazine Saveur, is going back into print thanks to new EIC Kat Craddock. Paper Magazine went away and then returned last year. I’m not alone in feeling new optimism when it comes to print.
Last year, Anja Charbonneau—who is the publisher of Broccoli, Mushroom People, and Catnip, and one of my favorite mag makers—wrote “Digital is dead—long live print!” The piece does a good job of summarizing the unique magic of the print magazine—and why many previous proclamations of print’s death have been overstated:
“A thoughtfully-made magazine is more than just a bunch of paper. It can be a portal, one with expansive potential that unfolds with every story and image. It keeps you away from your screens. It surprises you. It puts people and ideas in front of you that you’ve never seen before. It gives you an object of substance, one that you can come back to at your leisure, or pass along to a friend.
.... And contrary to popular reports, print never died. While many glossy mainstream titles have shuttered, indie magazines have been quietly and consistently reimagining the medium. Chances are, there’s a clever and beautiful magazine out there right now that you’d really enjoy. It might take some work to find them ... but they are out there. And here’s where we say, if you enjoy a magazine, subscribe to it.
Reading a magazine is a gift to yourself in the moment, and a gift to whoever might end up with your copy in the future. Maybe you pass it to a friend, or a family member. Maybe it sits on your coffee table or bookshelf, pulled out when something reminds you of a favorite story. The longer you have it, the more it becomes a time capsule of creativity, and of a moment in time.”
These words rang very true for me as I reflected on the process of creating Morgenmete’s second issue. We’ll be unveiling “The Always Connected Issue” later in June, but the road to creating it has been anything but easy. The concept for the issue was developed just before we went into a global pandemic, and I had to shelve it for some time while busy just trying to survive.
It wasn’t until the worst of the pandemic was over that I started to reconnect with friends over breakfast—and started to come back to the initial work. The original concept had evolved in the process, in response to new submissions, our changing world, and everyone’s pandemic experiences.
The initial issue of Morgenmete, if you remember, was based around humorist and satire pieces. It was an entry point for me into print, and as a nervous writer, I found it was an accessible style to work in.
But out of the pandemic, and thousands of words later, a more serious approach revealed itself. My initial pitch to writers was using the breakfast table as a starting point, but watching where they went from there was inspiring for me. I received a range of personal essays, tales from the pandemic, industry trend stories, and expressive recipes. There’s still incredible humor here, but some deep reads and introspective essays, too.
Throughout the long process of putting together Morgenmete’s second issue, I came back to what I love most about the mags I’ve collected. There were so many inspiring new print magazines being published: Chutney Magazine, Cake Zine, and Deem Journal, to name a few. Ongoing staples like Port, Compound Butter, Racquet, America Chordata, and It’s Freezing in LA!, among many others, kept me entertained. I felt freshly inspired to return to what made Morgenmete special in the first place—our place in the industry starts at the breakfast table. It may be a little bit more grown-up, and a little more sober, but I’m hoping that it never loses its spark of fun and unique humor.
There will be time in future issues to give credit to everyone involved, but throughout this issue’s development, I am very thankful to incredible collaboration from Claire Bullen, Tina Smith, Georgette Eva, and Ren Adkins. This truly would not have come together without their input and collaboration.
A New Brand for Breakfast Culture
While you’re here, I’m excited to get a little bit nerdy about the brand details.
Early last year, I reached out to type expert Tina Smith about creating a custom wordmark for Morgenmete. I knew I wanted an impactful, bold masthead. My initial pitch was for a logo that felt syrupy, a little goopy, trendy but timeless, and the process of developing that with Tina was so much fun.
I’m sharing some of my moodboards, initial sketches from Tina below, and asked her a few questions to help expand on the work.
Tim: What logo or wordmark in breakfast history is most memorable to you?
Tina: One of the classics: Kellogg's! It's been consistent for decades and I have always loved script logotypes. It was always part of my breakfast milieu growing up.
“I wanted the logo lettering to feel goopy and liquid, like it could have been poured from a syrup bottle.” - Tina Smith
The Original Moodboard
I really like goopy scripts, wonky letter forms, and connected letters. Tina had recently done work along those lines for cooking oil brand Zero Acre, and I felt certain that she’d have a good eye for this project.
Tim: What excited you about the mood board and guided your early drawings?
Tina: I have a soft spot for goopy script lettering and was so excited to see a whole direction with that reference. It was a big range of reference so I knew it was pretty open. Usually I take in reference and then draw without it in front of me so I'm creating something unique on my own.
The First Round
The logo was broken down into three different creative ideas: syrup label, cookbook cover, and snack brand. You can see the syrupy text idea in the first four options, followed by four that bring a ’70s cookbook vibe, and four more far-out fonts that would be at home on snack packaging.
Iterating on the Syrupy Text
Syrupy text felt like the best option for this project, and so Tina continued to perfect these letterforms, along with a logomark “M.”
Tim: What qualities of type or visual type ideas were you exploring when developing the first round of sketches for the "syrup label" concept?
Tina: I wanted the logo lettering to feel goopy and liquid, like it could have been poured from a syrup bottle. With that in mind, I drew logotype options that were thick and fluid while still being legible. I played with making the terminals of the letters thicker, like pooling syrup. A script expression of this made the most sense, with soft and flowing connected letters.
The Finished Wordmark
Here’s the final wordmark, and the one you’ll see gracing Morgenmete’s covers going forward. I’m really proud of it, and how it represents the spirit of the magazine.
Tim: Last question- what is your favorite breakfast?
Tina: I'm a person that gets obsessed with a breakfast and then has to have it almost every day for years until I get tired of it. It used to be protein smoothies for three years. Now it's yogurt with granola, chia seeds, and fresh in-season fruit, which I've been having most days the last two years.
Final Word
That’s it for this month’s edition of the Morgenmete Digest. If you liked this, tell a friend to subscribe. The second print issue will be unveiled in the next few weeks and up for pre-order shortly.
In the meantime, you can follow us on Instagram, share this newsletter with a friend, or find us on Twitter (we won’t call it X).
Thanks to Claire Bullen for editing all this copy like a boss.
yay!