An exploration of the evolution of the RSA Journal through a look at its covers across time. Since the Society’s founding in 1754, the Journal has functioned as a vehicle to communicate the Society’s mission and those of leading voices for societal progress. It has adapted through significant cultural shifts and design changes, with a major redesign in 2024. The Fellowship is invited to take part in shaping the Journal’s future via a readership survey.
Four minutes
Looking back at the visual history and key milestones of RSA Journal – and to the exciting future ahead
The RSA was founded in 1754 as The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Since its beginnings, the Society’s journal, in whatever form, has been a way to communicate its purpose, mission and actions, and to showcase leading voices for progress, all in the service of creating meaningful societal change. Viewed through the lens of its covers, it’s clear to see how the publication has proactively evolved along with the times, embodying changing design inspirations alongside significant cultural shifts.
It has also served as a loyal companion to its readers through times of upheaval. At the advent of World War II, the opening message in the September 1939 edition of The Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, as it was then known, read: “For nearly two hundred years, in peace and in war, the Society has continued its unique work…and in the present conflict it will endeavour to maintain to the utmost its position of usefulness in the life of the country.”
Visually, the Journal has gone through many evolutions. It began as purely typographical and evolved into a publication known (and awarded) as much for its design as its words.
In 2024, the Journal underwent its most substantial redesign in decades, breathing new life into its pages and positioning itself at the centre of a broader content universe, with the goal of continuing the important conversations started within its pages off into the digital sphere. In 2025, we will continue this evolution, and we look to the Fellowship for input. Visit the URL to fill out our Reader Survey and be part of RSA Journal’s next century of progress!
1783
The Transactions of the Society comprised notes from meetings and transactions and was the Society’s first formally published communication
1852
The first Journal of the Society of Arts. It was designed to record the work of the Society and contained the formal proceedings, notices and the appointment of various committees and their areas of interest
1908
The ‘Royal’ prefix was added to the title, becoming the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
1939
The Journal’s message at the beginning of World War II shows commitment to its values
1952
The RSA was a key player in the creation of the 1951 Festival of Britain. This exhibition showcased British achievements in art, science and technology
1980
The Journal takes on a new style, with block colour backdrops and an illustration of RSA House on the front
1988
The late 1980s saw the publication’s name change to its current title, RSA Journal, and heralded the advent of the Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) initiative
1990s
The Journal shifts to image-led covers that differ for each edition, from the abstract to the illustrative
1990
The Journal has featured the work of many notable artists, including this cover by illustrator, cartoonist and RDI Quentin Blake
1990
1991
An anniversary edition, celebrating 40 years since the Festival of Britain
1993
Late 1990s
Editor Imogen McEvedy spearheads a major design change for the Journal
1994
1999
This cover image highlighted the Fourth Plinth Project, an RSA initiative (spearheaded by then President Prue Leith) to bring a revolving series of artworks to the empty plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square
2001
2001
2013
2022
2024
The first edition of the year celebrated the 270th anniversary of the Society and the Journal’s redesign, undertaken in collaboration with its longtime agency partner, Wardour
2025…
Complete our reader survey and be part of the Journal’s continuing evolution. Your answers and opinions will help inform critical decisions about the future direction of RSA Journal.
This article first appeared in RSA Journal Issue 1 2025.
