Pre-orders For Second Issue Of 8 Faces Start Wednesday November 10

This is an unusual post for me. I am not one to promote things that do not exist yet. What's the point? There's nowhere to link to, no immediate action that can be undertaken by the interested reader. And yet, in this particular case it is so very warranted. Let me briefly explain. Last summer, on July 16 to be precise, Elliot Jay Stocks – designer, illustrator, speaker, author, and occasionally musician – launched the magazine 8 Faces. In this digital age, at a time of folding design magazines, and in the aftermath of a severe economic recession, it may not have seemed the brightest of ideas to produce a print magazine dedicated to typography with very high production values. Much to Elliot's surprise, after being live for a mere two hours, the entire run of 8 Faces completely sold out. Fortunately the first issue is still available to order in PDF format.

The first issue of 8 Faces, Summer 2010. Photos by Rajesh Pancholi

So, what is this all about? The description on the 8 Faces website reads:

If you could only use eight typefaces for the rest of your life, which would you choose? 8 Faces is a new magazine for devotees of typography that asks this question – and many more  to eight leading designers from the fields of web design, print design, illustration, and of course type design itself. Extensive examples of these designers' work and further contributions from other leading artists mean that the magazine is a beautiful artefact to behold.

The first issue, which counted 76 pages and was printed in a run of 1,000 copies, featured interviews with eight great designers:

Erik SpiekermannJessica HischeIan CoyleJason Santa MariaJos BuivengaJon TanBruce Willen & Nolen Strals

Furthermore it included an introduction by I Love Typography's John Boardley, exclusive artwork by Able Parris, a contest to win a signed letterpress print from Jessica Hische, and a bonus interview with The League of Movable Type.

Read more about the first issue of 8 Faces on FPO.

The first issue of 8 Faces, Summer 2010. Photos by Rajesh Pancholi

Now the second issue is almost upon us, better be prepared if you don't want to miss out on the physical edition. Although the print run has been tripled, the buzz surrounding the sold-out first issue should cause demand to be extremely high. Just like the first issue, actual copies of 8 Faces will start shipping a couple of weeks after pre-orders open. Once these run out, the magazine will be available as PDF. The physical edition will have the same high production values as issue one: thick uncoated stock, a foil-blocked cover, and an increased page count of 88!

The eight people interviewed for issue #2 once again all come from the world of type design, graphic design, and web design:

Martin Majoor | Designer of FF Scala, Telefont, FF Seria, and FF Nexus;Ale Paul | Founder of Argentinian foundry Sudtipos, known for his lavish script faces;Stephen Coles | Editor of Typographica and former Type Director at FontShop;Tim Brown | Creator of Nice Web Type and Type Manager at Typekit;Nick Sherman | Now working at Font Bureau and consulting for The Cooper Union;Rich Rutter | Co-founder of Fontdeck and Clearleft;Veronika Burian & José Scaglione of TypeTogether | Designers of faces such as Bree and Adelle.

#2 also features cover artwork from Jez Burrows, an intro by The Ministry of Type's Aegir Hallmundur, an article on uncial type by Linotype's Dan Reynolds, a look at the type-heavy interface of Windows Phone 7, and the story behind printing Underware's contemporary blackletter Fakir in blood!

The first issue of 8 Faces, Summer 2010. Photos by Elliot Jay Stocks

If you're attending Build (happening on the same day as the pre-order opening), 8 Faces have a special treat in store for you. And if you don't yet have a ticket but want to attend, there are only a handful left, so grab one while you still can.

So no, I can't link to the brand new 8 Faces website designed by Kyle Meyer because it only goes live the day pre-orders start. I can't show the magazine because it is not available yet. I can't conduct an interview with Elliot because he's way too busy trying to meet his deadlines. The only thing I can do is urge you – if you are a lover of type and typography – to set that alarm clock to Wednesday, November 10, at 17:00 GMT. Because I have a hunch this time 8 Faces won't even take 2 hours to sell out, and you'll be very sorry to have missed out.