Editorial Magazine
Padma
- Year
- 2022
- Client
- Padma Quarterly
- Services
- Editorial design, Art direction, Type system
Padma Quarterly is a 144-page print magazine that publishes long-form journalism, fiction, and photo essays from Bangladesh and West Bengal. The previous design treated Bangla as a footnote. We rebuilt the system around it.
Bangla-first grid
Every layout in the new design starts from the Bangla typesetting and flows English alongside it as a parallel column rather than a translation. The grid honours the matra and accommodates the natural vertical extension of conjunct characters without distortion.
A typeface for the long read
We commissioned a custom Bangla text face from a typographer in Kolkata, paired with a low-contrast English serif for English passages. Headlines use a display variant that subtly references woodblock printing — a nod to the magazine's roots in regional print history.