Print Edition Update: Preview Spreads
May 19th, 2011
I’m feeling quite good about how the magazine is shaping up. I’m doing all the preliminary layout and design now, after a crisis of confidence relating to the concept and my original vision of the magazine. As well as one based on fonts…
Font Crisis: A fast-paced split-decision game where you reconsider every font you’ve chosen based on cultural impact & peer usage.
I’m meeting up with a couple of printers tomorrow and meeting Gareth from Bearded magazine next week as he has a few contacts, I’m hoping to finalise a printer all before next Tuesday. Which may be a bit ambitious but I just don’t want to get caught out with last minute printing!
FMP: Writing!
May 2nd, 2011
This week I’ve been writing as much of the content as I can as well as trying to get articles from others, the sooner the writing is done the sooner I can get on with designing the magazine—which is fairly important(!) The tone of the magazine has shifted unconsciously towards music, which I’m fine with although it’s still quite a ragbag of different topics. I’ve enlisted the help of my friend Jon who occasionally writes for The Quietus (one of my favourite music websites and home to a lot of ex-Plan B writers) too and he’s been helping me work out the voice of the magazine.
I’m also enquiring with Becky Smith of Twin—where I’m interning as a digital designer—about advice for print, as well as another friend Gareth who used to run Bearded (interview with him here he mentions my fanzine from second year, ‘Shit and Stuff‘, too!) so I’m as prepared as possible before I head to the printers.
The main photo for this entry is a close-up of one of Andy Holden‘s pieces, I took about 150 photos at his studio and have got some great shots for the magazine. I’m looking forward to working with his pallete of colours to set a tone for the ‘profile’ feature on him and he’s got a pretty lengthy press release that I can use as part of the feature.
Oh and finally, I’m trying to arrange a meeting with Veronica So and Simon Whybray of L_A_N magazine particularly as I feel that their magazine has a great concept, summed up neatly by So here in an interview with Grafik:
“I wanted to prove, if only to myself, that it was possible to put together a great magazine that was mysterious, desirable and stylish using the internet as a sole means of research.”
I was sort of inspired by Ian Svenonius’s essays in his book, ‘The Pyschic Soviet’, to add a small bit of fiction to my articles to keep it entertaining to read (and to write) also its a decision that’s partly inspired by the rock ‘n’ roll journalism clichés/mythology of the past and how that’s totally been eroded now by instant access and Twitter so we see how real and relatable todays ‘rockstars’ are. To that end I too have been using the internet as a major research tool to inform and add a bit of depth to the interviews I’ve conducted.
FMP: ‘Versus’ Website
April 25th, 2011
Last week I thought I’d get on with making the magazine’s website, which will exist separately with the magazine. The concept behind the formats for print and digital is that they both represent the magazine’s ethos but are fundamentally ‘against’* each other.
I’ve bought a domain that represents this and have got on with designing the site and writing up a few articles already.
I’ll post the URL to the site later in the week when there’s a bit more to see. In the meantime I’ve started talking to friends who might want to participate in writing, taking photos, etc. I used to run a little webzine from when I was 16 until I was 19 called Dirty so I still have some contacts from that as well as Q&A interviews I’ve conducted which could be re-written in to articles. I don’t want the magazine to be too focussed on any one thing—music or otherwise—so I’m keen to get a bit more variety in there.
I’m meeting my friend Andy Holden soon to help him out with setting up an exhibition, his studio is amazing so I’m going to take my camera along. I think they’d look beautiful as spreads in the magazine.
*Or versus, if you really want me to spell it out!
