Port Magazine's 10th-anniversary identity lets the O of PORT double as the zero in 10

Port Magazine, the independent publication co-founded by Pentagram partner Matt Willey, was about to mark its tenth anniversary with issue 28. It needed a new identity and creative direction — a logo and cover design strong enough that the magazine stays consistent and recognizable across every future configuration.

Redesign Port around a modular masthead and grid that can run endless cover configurations, and on the anniversary issue make the O of PORT double as the zero in 10.

Willey re-envisioned the magazine's identity around a wide three-column cover grid, with the image sitting across two columns and a bold 'Port' wordmark spread along the outer margin. The modular system lets covers run in endless configurations while staying recognizable; for the anniversary issue, the O of PORT doubled as the zero in the number ten. The issue appeared as a run of covers — talents such as Matt Smith, Akala and Katherine Waterston each framed by a different combination of colored blocks behind the Port name — released one by one online and on social media.

Issue 28's covers got designers and print readers especially excited, and the timed one-by-one release made each cover a fresh piece of art. The redesign set the magazine's visual system for its second decade and was logged in the D&AD awards archive and the D&AD Annual 2022.

Port Magazine reached its tenth anniversary in 2021. Its 28th issue arrived with a completely new identity and creative direction, designed by Pentagram partner Matt Willey — who is also the publication's co-founder — so the reset came from inside the magazine's own history rather than from an outside restyle.

The new system is built around a wide three-column cover grid in which the image sits across two columns, with a bold wordmark reading 'PORT' spread along the outer margin. Because the components are modular, the covers can be configured endlessly and still read as one consistent, immediately recognizable identity.

The anniversary gave the system its trick: in the issue marking ten years, the O of PORT doubled as the zero in the number ten. The issue was released as multiple covers — each talent, including Matt Smith, Akala and Katherine Waterston, framed by a different combination of colored blocks behind the Port name — rolled out one by one so that every cover was savored as a fresh piece of art.

A modular grid and wordmark mean the identity survives whatever composition a future cover needs — consistency comes from the system, not from repeating one layout.

Making the O double as the zero put the birthday inside the masthead itself, so the celebration needed no separate campaign artwork.

Having the magazine's own co-founder design the reset kept the new Port continuous with the old Port's editorial character.

Releasing one cover at a time turned a print issue into a serial event on social media and the online shop.

A milestone can live inside the identity system instead of beside it: make one letter do two jobs, and the anniversary needs no extra campaign to be felt.

Issue 28 launched in April 2021 with its covers released one by one, and the anniversary identity was later logged in the D&AD awards archive and the D&AD Annual 2022 professional entries. For a ten-year-old independent magazine the redesign did more than mark a date: it supplied a durable visual system — a modular masthead and grid able to generate endless configurations — so the anniversary issue itself proved the brand could stay recognizable while every cover changed.