Here’s a quick design tip on identity from issue 41 of Before&After Magazine. This pocket-size Sharper Image catalog is a great example of sharper design.
Key is its one-product-per-page layout that showcases each high-tech gizmo with no distracting (and sales-robbing) gingerbread. It’s handsome and—this is especially nice—really easy to do.
- It’s tiny, but black compensates.
- Full bleed pages. Margins would add busy-ness.
- Four lines of copy per product. Identical format; no variations.
- Products are the same size and centered. Type is centered.
- Empty backgrounds have no distractions.
CreativePro members can download original content from Before&After Magazine, a beloved resource that taught a generation of newly minted digital designers how to design and communicate effectively with the written word. See our archive here.
© John McWade/Before&After Magazine, courtesy of Gaye Anne McWade.
This article was last modified on December 18, 2025
This article was first published on July 4, 2025
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