FRESH | SISTER MARY BRINGS SPIRIT OF SAMIZDAT TO NEW JOURNAL

WASHINGTON DC/NEW YORK NY. Sister Mary, a creative agency led by Leigh Chandler, has designed a limited edition print publication for The Signal. The emerging current affairs brand explores urgent questions in dialog with expert contributors around the world. Its inaugural issue — The Long Game — highlights the global struggle between authoritarian states and democratic life. Created in partnership with Human Rights Foundation, in support of the Oslo Freedom Forum, the special issue features interviews with American social scientist Francis Fukuyama, Bosnian investigative journalist Miranda Patrucić, and others — confronting questions from how autocrats are adapting AI to how corruption inside dictatorships spreads to how human rights issues effect investment strategies. The Signal team, including John Jamesen Gould and Hywel Mills, partnered with Chandler to infuse the debut issue with the spirit of samizdat, a term derived from Russian for “self-publishing” and connoting literature clandestinely written and circulated during the Soviet era. The editorial design, says Chandler, not only pays homage to samizdat but reimagines it by capturing the raw essence of underground publishing today. Using layering, cropping, aged textures, and bold typography, the layout is intended to create a sense of urgency and defiance. Unbleached newsprint as the paper stock is reminiscent of samizdat’s historical context. A palette of light beige, black, red, and gold reflects a “rebellious yet premium aesthetic.” Typography is commanding, with headlines in Manuka and complementary text in Untitled. Comments Gould: “To be able to assemble our work in a print publication like this isn't just beautiful, it’s transformative. It’s allowed us to bring a historical connection with the samizdat publications of the Soviet era to life in the language of design — and that’s allowed us to create a reading experience with a completely different emotional resonance and, ultimately I think, a deeper meaning.” sistermary.nyc