@Design watch: Online journal Frostwriting publishes poetry, fiction, and translations in an issue-based format that’s surprisingly readable. The success of the format is due in no small part to Colin Lewis’s clean, open design, which uses a javascript accordion to make each issue’s full contents accessible from the front page without cluttering the ample white space. (The design also makes use of my two favorite web fonts: Helvetica Neue and Helvetica.)

The design’s basic aesthetic — gray-on-white text, generous white space, clear headings (often in Helvetica), and red text for links/accents — has become popular among online journals and magazines, maybe because it provides a sense of literacy that seems both modern and classical. (Black, white, and red were the colors of the Gutenberg Bible, and Helvetica was the mainstay font for modern design.) Does this aesthetic have a proper name? I’m calling it avant-print, until someone calls me stupid for doing so.