Four times a year the Association for Art History publishes its journal, featuring the latest illustrated research papers. These peer-reviewed papers by art historians are the bedrock of an academic's career, they need publication to advance, to build towards books, to retain tenured positions.

We worked on a page grid that can carry almost every kind of image, from painted door lintels to painfully thin Giacometti figures, and yet be economic in terms of the use of space, all allow for lengthy texts. One luxury we argued hard for was a full-page image opening to each essay, and text in a colour derived from the image (with the Photoshop droplet tool).

Whilst it needs to look marvellous, the journal is a working document, it has a lot to fit between its covers. And those covers. We designed a gentle system that forms a balance between a consistent recognisable journal brand and a big fresh blast of art.