Hot Type

As typesetting became easier and cheaper in the tail end of the 20th century, more people had more access to more typefaces than ever before. Coinciding with an era of social change, small publications for gay audiences rose up from the underground to achieve commercial success as their visibility grew and their social stigma decreased. This look at magazines for mature gay audiences showcases the often novel and witty use of typography in genres where readers were more concerned with dirty pictures than eye-catching design.