The National Grid.
The National Grid
Issues #9 (November 2025) and #10 (November 2026)
Edited and designed by Luke Wood, Katie Kerr and Matthew Galloway
Published by Ilam Press and GLORIA Books; edition of 500 per issue
The National Grid is a periodical dedicated to research in the field of graphic design, based in Aotearoa. It takes an expansive view of 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’, it 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, edited and designed by Luke Wood, Katie Kerr and Matthew Galloway, and co-published by Ilam Press and GLORIA Books.
Issue #9 (November 2025): Introduction: Satellite of Love, Luke Wood; Designed Landscapes: A Brief History of the Futures Cone, Matthew Galloway and Hana Pera Aoake; The Crying of Lot P239088184, Luke Shaw; Reference Everything: The Posters of Sheahan Huri, Sheahan Huri and the editors; Design Studies in Crisis: A (Too Late?) Conversation with Cameron Tonkinwise, Luke Wood and Cameron Tonkinwise; Retracing Tulaga Vae: The Story of Mana, Andrea Low, Wanda Iremia-Allen and Paula Legel; Insects in the Night: A Nocturnal Journey through Light-on-Dark Type, Nell May; Together for Te Tiriti: An Interview with Extended Whānau, Katie Kerr, Tyrone Ohia, Max Quinn-Tapara and Eva Charlton; Language Support #1: 上 (Shàng), David Bennewith and Warren Olds
Issue #10 (November 2026): Crimson & Clover, Tamsen Hopkinson and Jane Wallace; A Synthetic Expression, Matthew Galloway; Hostile Architecture, Kim Paton; Doing the Work, Catherine Griffiths and Fiona Jack; On the Limits of Tongan Design, Shaun Naufahu; Event Memories, Ann Shelton and Matthew Galloway; split/fountain: Returns & Fragments, Layla Tweedie-Cullen; 29 Typesetter / 29 Type House, David Bennewith
Copy-edited by Melinda Johnston.
