The National Grid
Ilam Press & GLORIA Books
Type: Design periodical
Format: Softcover, section-sewn
Size: 170 × 240 mm, upright
Extent: 112 pages
Edition: 500 copies
Paper: Wheki Cream 80gsm and Neo Satin 128gsm
Cover: Sapphire Board 300gsm
Binding: Section sewn, soft cover
Printing: Offset printed in Aotearoa New Zealand
Printed locally on an offset press, this small-run edition continues The National Grid’s legacy of rigorous design publishing. The 112-page, section-sewn format gives it the integrity and feel of a journal meant to last, while the tactile soft cover and carefully balanced typography reflect the editors’ considered approach to both form and content. Produced as an edition of 500, it’s a beautifully made object, one that rewards close reading and long-term keeping.
Based in Aotearoa, The National Grid is a periodical dedicated to research in the field of graphic design. It takes an expansive view on graphic design as it intersects with culture, society, politics and histories. As a practice fundamentally concerned with the reproduction and distribution of language, graphic design—The National Grid suggests—is significantly more interesting, and more impactful, than purely market-led or ‘value added’ narratives tend to imply. Not quite ‘magazine’ and not quite ‘academic journal’, The National Grid attempts to chart a path through the murky wasteland between professional practice and academia, art and design.
The National Grid was originally published across eight issues between 2005 and 2012, edited and designed by Luke Wood and Jonty Valentine. Revived in 2025, the periodical returns under the editorship of Luke Wood, Katie Kerr, and Matthew Galloway.