Gym Class Magazine #03 by Gym Class

EDITORIAL / CONTENTS

What do you think of our front cover? It was art directed by JOHN ers

— an online archive of magazine covers, re-imagined by JPT

cover he’s created. We love his

covers

project too. So much so,

page 4. ¶ From page 10, MICHAEL BOJKOWSKI (you may recall answers some questions on design and magazines. He’s even crepage 13. ¶ There’s also a Q&A with illustrator CHRIS DENT. He’s some bona fide blue chip clients. Quite impressive, really. Take peat offender, er, we mean contributor, DANIEL GRAY talks us the Case Study House program on page 18. We’re big-time fans ¶ Breathe. Breathe. We chat with zine guru ALEX ZAMORA on house fever zine. He’s an inspiration. Read what he’s got to say. ¶ Art attack! We caught up with London graphic designer STEFI work celebrating Modernist architecture. And she lives in the is that? Very! Plus, Stefi’s given us some badges to give away. tition details are on page 22. Exciting! ¶ Oh no. We’re nearing we chat with ROB PEART. He’s one half of Zineswap, a resource their zines with one-another. We’re fans. The Q&A is on page 30. tributors. You’re all legends! Without you, GCM wouldn’t be. And copy of GCM. You rock! Hope you enjoy this latest offering. Peace GCM website. It was created by über designer Alasdair Monk. alasdairmonk.com — and employ his services; they’re shit-hot! GYM CLASS MAGAZINE, A ZINE FOR THE GUY CHOSEN LAST, IS EDITED AND DESIGNED BY STEVEN GREGOR. visit gymclassmagazine.com for more information. gcm #03 GUEST ART DIRECTOR: JOHN PAUL THURLOW — JOHNPAULTHURLOW.BLOGSPOT.COM GYM CLASS MAGAZINE WEBSITE BY: ALASdAIR MONK — alasdairmonk.com

2 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

PAUL THURLOW, the guy behind covin his unique style. We love the GCM#03 there’s a Q&A with him starting on his article on typography in GCM #02) ated a beaut infographic for us, it’s on done some pretty impressive work for a look at his work from page 14. ¶ Rethrough modernist architecture and of anything Modernist. Ch-ch-check it.

. wwcwlass gymgazine ma com .

page 24. He’s the editor of DIY powerAll hail fever zine. Show respect, peeps. ORAZI. She’s created some very cool Barbican in Central London! How cool The Q&A starts on page 26. Compethe end. Last, but certainly not least, through which zine creators can swap ¶ And that’s it. Thanks to the above conthanks, too, to everyone who’s bought a out! Oh… I almost forgot. There’s a new Thanks, man! Check out his website — Respect. COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP OF ALL MATERIAL REPRODUCED IN THIS ISSUE OF GYM CLASS MAGAZINE BELONGS WITH ITS OWNER. WE’RE NOT INTO STEALING, JUST SHARING.

VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 3

ART / MAGAZINES

cover s began in

BUDD TE

iN CONVERSATION WITH J O H N paul thurlow , our guest art director

SEE ALSO: JOHNPAULTHURLOW.BLOGSPOT.COM TINYURL.COM/COVERSONFLICKR 4 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

japan I WAS ON A RETREAT IN A

REMOTE

HIST MPLE VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 5

ART / MAGAZINES

Greetings and salutations, JPT. Firstly, thanks for art directing this issue’s front cover… we love, love, love it. Secondly, we’re also mighty impressed with the collection of illustrated magazine covers over on your blog and flickr. Tell us a bit about the project… when/how did it come about? ¶ covers began in Japan. I was on a retreat living in a remote Buddhist temple. Possibly because of the quiet solitude I started to doodle the contents of my room. I was attracted to the magazines I’d bought for the flight. One of them was elle. As I was drawing the idea for covers just clicked. ¶ Because of how the idea came to me I wanted to see how far I could extend the initial thought. However making straight copies felt empty. The second idea in covers was to mix things up by projecting my thoughts, feelings and personal mythology into the drawings. And the more I draw the more I find I’m art directing my own covers from scratch rather than altering others… one constant is the need for a connection between the cover and my life experience — without this I won’t make a drawing. ¶ I must say I’ve met new people through the project who’ve introduced me to titles I wasn’t familiar with and subsequently commissioned

covers

I otherwise would never have done, all of which

feels great. ¶ We especially love how you alter or deface the covers you draw. You’ve drawn french model Patrick Petitjean for the cover of this issue of gcm. But, in your own (very cool!) style, you’ve altered the original picture by adding some scratches. Talk us through the rationale. ¶ I wanted to make a drawing that connected with the idea behind the magazine. By this I’m referring to the strap-line

a zine for the guy chosen last.

daydreamed a young man, maybe still at sixth form, drawing his hero Patrick Petitjean from the pages of a men’s magazine. I imagined how this drawing was subsequently defaced by the school bullies who took offense at the ‘bromantic’ nature of the drawing… and that this attempt to ruin the artwork unintentionally made it stronger (both it’s look and the emotional charge)… in this way I felt as if something was added to the spirit of gym class magazine. ¶ You are correct in saying many of my drawings include destructive marks. For me it’s not so difficult to create a polished-looking drawing, but almost every time I do I get to the end and reject it. Perfection just seems dull to me. I think it’s quite common for the artistic temperament to be exhilarated by destruction as much as creation. They are definitely linked for me. I think it ultimately comes down to my personal definition of beauty vs. merely pretty. Beauty isn’t dependent on perfection. ¶ You own most of the magazines you draw. You’re obviously a big-time magazine fan boi. Us too! Of the magazines you own, which one is your most prized and why? ¶ Possibly vogue September 1990 featuring Jade 6 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

model klara webster (above right) APPEARED in a kasino a4 fashion spread (ISSUE #4). she has exquisite breasts but was not the inspiration for JpT’s naked (see: tinyurl.com/ nakedlady) For more on kasino a4 (which we love, btw), check out: wearekasino.com

COVER 27

Jagger on the cover, which was given to me as a birthday card by a close friend. She added her own marks to it. It’s a lovely thing to do, and an obvious inspiration. I also have a copy of zoom magazine from 1982, which I found in a second hand shop, through which I discovered Jean Paul Goude, Deborah Turbeville and Andrjez Zulawski. Because of your question I just re-read the magazine and noticed it includes an article about an exhibition of the 500 best magazine covers from around the world. I had totally forgotten that. Subliminal influences no doubt. ¶ Of the covers you’ve drawn, which is your favourite? What makes it your favourite? ¶ If I was forced to make a selection: cover 27 yacob or cover 51 vogue hommes international mode. ¶ The portrait for cover 27 yacob is the only time I’ve covered another artist’s drawing — it’s Olimpico Fusco by John Singer Sargent — an artist who’s drawings I hold in high esteem. yacob magazine is an independent publication with a humanitarian agenda that I was proud to support. This drawing is my imagined image of Yacob himself. I like the combination of pride and fragility in his expression. ¶ Of the recent work I really like cover 51 vogue hommes international mode featuring KanYe West. I like the idea of putting him on the cover of a fashion special edition, these publications always seemed to me to be the last bastions of old school attitudes to menswear (by this I mean imagery with a clear queer sub text). Mr West seems to enjoy playing with his image and to genuinely love fashion, so I took that on a few steps. The earrings are inspired by the set design of his live show with Daft Punk but ended up looking very Pat Butcher. I was happy with that. ¶ We’ve been snooping around flickr and also love your greyscale obscurity set of illustrations. The naked lady in the illustration called naked (see: www.tinyurl.com/nakedlady)… is she drawn from a model featured in a past issue of kasino a4 magazine?

She looks familiar. ¶ She’s drawn from an ad campaign I think. To be honest I drew that in 2005

and can’t remember the exact source but it was from a magazine. I liked her naked confidence and exquisite breasts, but I remember thinking she could do with eating a few more pies. ¶ Thanks for your time, JPT. You’re a S-T-A-R! VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 7

ICON

COVER 51

SOURCE: TINYURL.COM/rockhudsonphoto

ROCK HUDSON

Rock Hudson (born 1925 — died 1985) was an American film and television actor, recognised as a romantic leading man during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably in several comedies with his most famous co-star, Doris Day. Hudson was voted ‘Star of the Year’, ‘Favorite Leading Man’, and similar titles by numerous movie magazines and was unquestionably one of the most popular and well-known movie stars of the time. He completed nearly 70 motion pictures and starred in several television productions during a career that spanned over four decades. Hudson was also one of the first major Hollywood celebrities to die from an AIDS related illness. ¶ Rock was good friends with American novelist Armistead Maupin. In Maupin’s of the city, Michael

further tales

Tolliver links up with a closeted ma-

cho icon referred to as Blank Blank, which has been interpreted as a thinly disguised caricature of Hudson. Maupin claimed after Hudson’s death that he changed details to avoid the character being recognised as Hud-

—tinyurl.com/wikirockhudson 8 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

COVER 53

son.

COVER 48

COVER 50

COVERS BY JOHN PAUL THURLOW

VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 9

MAGAZINES / DESIGN

BOJ KOW SKI

IS THE MAN

10 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

iN CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL BOJKOWSKI, D E S I G N R O YA LT Y Big up, Michael. How are things? ¶ Big up ‘yoself Steven and don’t you mean ‘tings’? :P ¶ You is right, you is. We do mean ‘tings’. Thanks for the lovely infographic we’ve placed on the next spread. Space is cool. Are you a sci-fi kinda guy? ¶ Space is the Place. Do you believe in aliens? ¶ Like, yeah. Aliens exist and they rock! Well, maybe not the Sigourney Weaver kind. But the et kind are über. ¶ I was listening to some prominent English ‘science guy’ in a guardian podcast discuss the possibility of life on other planets — hang on, I’ll look him up… blimey, it was Astronomer Royale, Martin Rees — anyhoo, he seemed to think that, mathematically it was highly probable but I got the impression that he would only really believe it if he saw an actual alien… possibly waving at him through his ginormous telescope. ¶ You worked on the new UK esquire magazine website and blog. How do you see magazines and the internet getting on in the future? ¶ Oo, crumbs. I know how I’d like them to interact with each other. I’d like more luverly cover image galleries and regular sneak previews on forth coming content thanks. What I can see happening is some magazines supplanting their physical paper bound embodiments with more online content. It’s happened at

good

magazine where they slashed their

publishing schedule and ramped up their blogging. Loads of magazines are having to cut their print costs to make up for a lack in advertising, stalwart i-d are down to six issues a year. I think wired will start to tip the scales as their print edition gets slimmer and slimmer yet their online content remains as popular as ever. Most recently new comer, buck magazine semi-imploded and scrapped their print edition completely. So, for now online is starting to push print’s fist down towards the table as their long-running ‘arm wrestle’ continues unabated. ¶ VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 11

MAGAZINES / DESIGN

What’s your all-time favourite magazine and which current magazine do you most look forward to (apart from gcm, of course)? ¶ Gosh. It’s something us maglophiles have discussed on sites like

magculture

before. It usually comes down to ‘eras’, like I’m a big big fan of Stephen Male era i-d magazine (so late 80s/early 90s). One of the many nice things about magazines is that they are a product of a team of people and when you get the right combination, I reckon that’s when a magazine becomes great. At the mo I’m hanging out for the next apartamento, little white lies

and i.d. but that changes from week to week. ¶

How does the Australian design scene compare to that of the UK? Does each have a distinct style or are design trends global nowadays? ¶ Australian graphic design has always followed the UK’s lead which makes sense considering that Anglo-Saxon Australia was ‘installed’ by the British. I actually don’t think that’s such a bad thing because it gives Australia a much needed link to Europe in general. Having said that, some agencies’ style may be influenced by the UK but business structures are vastly different. Australian business has fully embraced ‘marketing over creativity’ so a lot of designers find themselves having to manoeuvre around the term ‘Graphic Design’ and repackage it in a myriad of ways. There’s also a rather messy and self-indulgent line in ‘creative design’ being pushed by Aussie sites like design is kinky, and lost in e minor and mags like wooden toy, king brown and desktop that leaves me particularly cold. Where’s Alex Stitt when you need him? ¶ You’re working on a new print-on-demand publication at the moment. We’ve checked out the sneak-peek on your blog… looks fab. What can you tell us about it? ¶ lineread is a continuation of my personal publishing experiments, investigating what happens when you take something that lives online and put it into print. I’m hoping to use Hewlett Packard’s new P.O.D. venture, MagCloud to host

lineread.

should be available in the next month or so. I also wanted to expand the linefeed

‘brand’ (er, I hate using that word. Makes me feel sort of dirty…

and not in a good way). linefeed now has lineout as a depository for any video content (via Vimeo) and plans are afoot for linefeed branded products using a typeface I developed for the site called ‘Rhodia’. Though, as with anything I take on as a self-initiated project, progress is slow. We’re talking glacial. ¶ Hang tight, peep. lovin’ your work. ¶ Cheers. I hope that’s not too waffly. Please feel free to cut it down if you need to. Maybe you should keep this bit in though. I don’t know why. Is it interesting? Probably not. If there’s anything else you need just hollah. And… yay gym class magazine!!!!!!!!

Bye.

12 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

SEE ALSO: linefeed.presspublish.info VIMEO.COM/LINEOUT twitter.com/bojkowski flickr.com/photos/mooski

INFOGRAPHIC BY MICHAEL BOJKOWSKI

VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 13

ILLUSTRATION

iN CONVERSATION WITH

CHRIS H E ’ S R E A L LY G O O D AT D R A W I N G

Hey Chris, thanks for chatting with us. You’ve got an impressive portfolio going on. We love your drawings of alpha cities and built environments. What’s you’re favourite city to draw and why? ¶ My favourite city would have to be New York City followed closely by Chicago, there’s something very special about NY for me. Even back at school I remember being inspired by books or photo’s I had seen of NYC. I think as I grew up the relation between music (Hip Hop), street culture and art drew parallels with the city, which has made it feel like a familiar place. ¶ You’re based in london, but are you from here? What’s your back-story? ¶ I actually grew up in Hertfordshire, which is directly above North London. A great place to grow up as a kid, I always saw it as having the best of both worlds with the countryside on my doorstep and the city a 30 minute ride away. As a kid I was obsessed with two things, drawing and football (soccer). I used to play for Tottenham Hotspur as a kid and I thought that playing football would be my future. But it was only in my late teens, once I had started at Central St Martins, that I knew that art would be my career. ¶ You’ve worked with some big-time clients, including wallpaper* and new york magazines. We’re real magazine junkies here at

gcm

world HQ. What’s your favourite magazine and what magazine would you most like to have on

your client list? ¶ I can relate to being a magazine junkie, I have them everywhere! Well… I have always been an ad14 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

DENT mirer of wallpaper* it was a nice feeling when I saw my

allow myself before I have travelled there. Hopefully not

work in

long until that happens. I often travel to the US where I

wallpaper*

for the first time while I was out in

NY last year. From a slightly different perspective appeal

mass

have gathered a lot of research. ¶

would answer both your questions. It’s sad they

are no longer going. It would have been amazing to have

Drawing all these cities must whet your appetite for

had some work featured with them. I have just finished a

travel. We’re big city kinda guys here at

piece for time magazine, which is a great client to have. ¶

could get on a plane now and fly anywhere, where

gcm.

If you

would you go? ¶ Well that would either be New York or Have you travelled to all the cities you’ve drawn or do

Tokyo. NY is a place I love to be — great inspiration, food

you work mostly from photographs? ¶ I would love to

and friends. Tokyo, as I am desperate to explore their cul-

be able to travel to all the cities I draw, even though I pre-

ture and finally start that much awaited project.

fer to draw from photographs. I like to get the feel of the location. It normally has an affect on my work. It’s something which I feel quite strongly about. I have a project based on Tokyo which I am desperate to start but I won’t

SEE ALSO: CHRISDENT.CO.UK tinyurl.com/chrisdentflickr VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 15

ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS DENT

16 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 17

architecture

IT’S ALL VERY

MAD M

GRAND D 18 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

MEN

MEETS

DESIGNS BY DANIEL GRAY DANIEL GRAY TALKS US THROUGH THE CASE STUDY HOUSE PROGRAM AND ARTS & ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE’S QUEST TO CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE. GROOVY.

SEE ALSO: BINKYTHEDOORMAT.COM ARTSANDARCHITECTURE.COM tinyurl.com/stahlhouseinmovies VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 19

architecture

I t ’ s all T ate M odern ’ s fault .

During a recent visit, I was following my usual gal-

lery–stalking pattern: spend a while wandering around the art, spend absolutely bloody ages wandering around the bookshop. Whilst browsing though the various printed goodies on display (and trying to justify the purchase of yet another canvas bag) I came across two large cardboard boxes filled to the brim with copies of

arts

architecture

magazine. Every issue, from 1945 to 1954, reprinted by Taschen and boxed and lovely and… and… now I’m obsessed. ¶ Individually, the magazines are something to behold, from the editorial features and architectural plans right down to the adverts — to simplify it enormously, it’s all very mad men meets grand designs. What really captured my attention though is that, as a collection, a bigger picture emerges: arts & architecture was trying to change the way we lived. ¶ “Because most opinion, both profound and light-headed, in terms of post war housing is nothing but speculation in the form of talk and reams of paper, it occurs to us that it might be a good idea to get down to cases and at least make a beginning in the gathering of that mass of material that must eventually result in what we know as “house–post war.” ¶ Flicking through the pages, the passion of editor John Entenza quickly becomes evident. Responding to a period of national housing shortages, Entenza transformed arts & architecture from a document of cutting edge architectural design to a driving force behind it. In 1945 the magazine initiated the Case Study House program; its aim to produce low-cost, experimental modern prototypes of houses to act as templates for the coming housing boom. ¶ Over 21 years, 36 designs were commissioned (although only 26 were actually built, mostly in California) from the likes of Richard Neutra, Pierre Koenig, and Charles and Ray Eames (who were so happy with their effort they ended up living in it themselves. Them and all their lovely furniture). Designers were given the freedom to experiment and push the boundaries of accepted architectural conventions, although given the nature of the new technologies, donated materials and restraints of the local climate, all the houses followed a certain trend. Angular, open-plan compositions of glass and steel were dominant, with pools and gardens forming integral parts of the living space. Probably the most iconic building of the program is the Stahl House, a reductive L–shape surrounding a pool area, overlooking Los Angeles. It’s still open to the public today — a quick search on flickr will bring up lots of grinning design tourists wandering about that small, amazing space. ¶ The program ran until 1966, and proved hugely influential on a new era of American architecture. The houses that remain are living, three–dimensional embodiments of International Style modernism, and the big box of reprinted arts & architecture (with another box, 1955–1967, to follow later this year) is a breathtaking document of the optimism of post-war design. Plus it’s really, really heavy. ¶ Of course, what I need to do now is actually buy that big box. And I need to fly over to LA to visit as many of the houses as I can. And then, once I’ve found a particularly Californian corner of the Yorkshire Dales, I need to rebuild one over here (preferably under the watchful eye of Kevin McCloud). I need to know more. ¶ Sometimes popping into the Tate Modern bookshop can be awfully costly. 20 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 21

JULIUS SHULMAN PHOTOGRAPHING THE STAHL HOUSE SOURCE: TINYURL.COM/STAHLHOUSE2

THE STAHL HOUSE, PHOTOGRAPHED BY JULIUS SHULMAN SOURCE: TINYURL.COM/STAHLHOUSE1

OPPOSITE: Each Arts & Architecture box contains one year’s worth of magazines © David Travers

COMPETITION

DONALD DRAPER

WIN!

Donald “Don” Draper, born Richard “Dick” Whitman, is

Have you subscribed to the new gym class magazine email

a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC’s tel-

newsletter? If not, stop by the website and sign up. It’s

evision series

He is portrayed by 2008 Gold-

super quick and easy. And it’s free! Plus, if you subscribe

en Globe winner Jon Hamm. Don is the creative di-

by Friday 14 August 2009, you’ll automatically go into

rector of the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. ¶ In

the draw to win a pack of Stefi Orazi’s Purist palette

many respects Draper is typical of an American middle

badges inspired by Le Corbusier. There are three badg-

class male who existed in Post-World War II America.

es per pack, and 10 packs in total to win. They’re courte-

¶ Draper appears to be one of the very few males (per-

sy of Stefi! Nice one! ¶ Le Corbusier was a Swiss/French

haps the only male) at Sterling Cooper that does not en-

architect and one of the founders of modernist architec-

gage in conversations that are about sex and conquests.

ture. We’re fans. ¶ Of course, the black and white pho-

Even the secretly gay Salvatore talks about sexy girls

tograph above doesn’t do Stefi’s badges much justice.

and sexy models, beginning in the first episode. Salva-

There’s a colour photo over on the

tore tells Draper that he does not really want to go to

website, stop by and take a look. And subscribe to the

Pete’s bachelor party in a group because he’d “rather be

new email newsletter while you’re there. Good luck! ¶

alone (with a girl) so he could do something.” ¶ In fact,

For more information about the gym class magazine email

Draper keeps his extramarital affairs to himself in order

newsletter, check out the About page on the website. ¶

to protect his wife’s honor.

And for more information about Stefi and her work,

SOURCE: TINYURL.COM/DONDRAPERPHOTO

icon

mad men.

gym class magazine

check out the Q&A beginning on page 26. In fact, while you’re at it, stop by Stefi’s website… there’s lots of lovely pictures of her graphic design work to look at… and there’s her online shop full of beautiful things for you to buy. Ker-ching!

—gymclassmagazine.com —tinyurl.com/wikidondraper 22 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

—stefiorazi.co.uk

LANDMARK

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVEN GREGOR

CHATEAU MARMONT

The Chateau Marmont is a hotel at 8221 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, built in 1927, and modelled loosely after the Château d’Amboise, in France’s Loire Valley. It has served as the backdrop for a number of events in the lives of well-known rock stars and actors. ¶ The Chateau Marmont opened in February 1929 as an apartment house, but high rents and the Depression kept renters away. In 1931 the building was changed to a hotel. The hotel was bought in 1990 and is currently owned and managed by Hotels AB, run by celebrity hotelier Andre Balazs. ¶ The Chateau Marmont was designed and constructed as earthquake proof, and has survived major earthquakes in 1933, 1953, 1971, 1987 and 1994, without sustaining any major structural damage. Nine cottages were built in the 1930s, next to the hotel, which were acquired by the hotel in the 1940s. Two of the four bungalows at the Chateau Marmont were designed by Craig Ellwood, in 1956, after he completed his Case Study Houses. The bungalows are like miniature Case Study Houses.

—www.tinyurl.com/chateaumarmontwiki VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 23

ZINES — PART ONE

back story.

ally miss the face actually. When I started reading it, in

How long has it been around and where did the origi-

Hey Alex, tell me a little about

fever zine’s

the late 90s, it was miles more fun and interesting than

nal idea/concept come from? ¶ fever zine was conceived

its rivals. the face’s covers were iconic and everyone has

back in late 2006. I’d been toying with the idea of making

a favourite. The same just can’t be said about the other

my own zine for at least a year. I’m a journalist by trade

style rags. It was one of a kind. ¶

and over the years I’ve spent a lot of time listening to editors reject good ideas because the subject matter wasn’t

How come you print the cover on pink paper? ¶ When I

trendy, young or pretty enough. It was frustrating and a

started thinking about fever I thought it would look nice,

catalyst to start something of my own, even if it wasn’t

rather than printing solely on white paper. I thought it

as glossy, or as nicely printed as the mags I used to work

looked like an attractive combination: a pink cover hid-

with. ¶ So, in early 2006 I created a zine full of those topi-

ing white paper and black ink. It’s not quite the financial

cal barometers you tend to see in magazines. I called it

times,

or butt magazine, but people seem to love it. ¶

‘Barometer’ and put it on sale at zine hotspot Lik + Neon in East London. I printed five and sold four in a short

fever zine

space of time and the owner put the last one in her zine

champion of lo-fi culture. How do you see the zine de-

archive. It was a minor personal triumph and showed

veloping? How many more issues do you feel you have

me that people were interested in stuff I could produce,

up your sleeve? ¶ Well I see it developing digitally pri-

even if it was designed on Microsoft Word, unstapled and

marily. Its social networks on MySpace, Facebook and

printed on my ageing, black and white laser printer. It

Twitter are growing daily and with the influx of peo-

gave me the push to create fever zine. ¶

ple comes an influx of new creative folk to collaborate

is a star on the indie DIY zine scene. A real

with (along with established contributors of course). How much of

fever zine’s

content do you generate and

They will undoubtedly influence content and visuals. In

how much comes from other contributors? ¶ I tend to

terms of the future, fever zine will keep on improving, in

commission most of the content, although some is sug-

content, design and production. And as long as I’ve got

gested by contributors. Our designer Simon also helps

enough inspiring stuff to cover there’ll always be a new

out with commissioning some of the illustrators. Con-

issue coming out. ¶

tent-wise, I have a certain idea about the kind of stuff at least for now. It’s

You’re pretty big on the London zine fair circuit. Are

still in its infancy and needs to develop a bit more before I

there any zine fairs or festivals around the world you’d

loosen the reins. I see it as a highly personal project so in

like to check out? ¶ I’d love to check out all the zine fairs

some ways it reflects a lot of my personal tastes. ¶

in the UK first. I’ve been meaning to get to the ones in

which should feature in

fever zine,

Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow for ages, but there’s is a real inspiration for us here at gcm world

always something which gets in the way. Globally there

HQ. Do you have a favourite zine or magazine? If so,

are tonnes of zine fairs which receive little or no public-

what do you like about it? Which zines/magazines in-

ity; it’d be great to visit those ones and check out their

spire you? ¶ I don’t have favourites anymore. I still

local zines.

fever zine

search for amazing new mags and zines, but rarely fall in love with them. I used to love mags like flaunt, flux, fader

and neo2, but I’ve fallen out of touch with them. Some

of them have changed too much and others I’ve just not seen around. I really like swindle, monocle, specialten and icon

right now, as well as extinct mags like the face. I re-

24 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

SEE ALSO: simonwhybray.com/feverzinE myspace.com/feverzinE flickr.com/photos/feverzinE twitter.com/feverzine

iN CONVERSATION WITH

A L E X zamora , EDITOR OF FEVER ZINE

PRETTY IN PINK VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 25

ART

STEFI ORAZI I GRAPHIC DESI LIVES IN THE

26 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

ART

S A GNER AND BARBICAN See e pag 22 Hey stefi, we’ve had a nosey around your website and, I have to say, we love your work. In particular, we’re big-time fan boys for your cards and prints. In fact, we bought a couple of packs of your modernist london (winder edition) cards to send as Christmas cards last year… they were a big hit. Love them. How did this project come about and how did you decide on the London icons to feature? ¶ I’ve been doing illustrations of the Barbican, where I live, for some time now. A couple of years ago I produced a limited edition set of barbican christmas cards, just 100 packs. I was amazed at how popular they were. The modernist london set was a natural progression. Basically they are buildings that I love. Luckily other people seem to like them too! ¶ We love London’s Barbican complex… it’s so very cool. You created some greeting cards to coincide with an exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery celebrating the work of famed Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. Did the good folk at the Barbican ask you to create the cards? ¶ No, I much prefer coming up with the idea myself than being commissioned — that way I get complete freedom to do what I want, although there’s always the risk that they might flop.

MILTON COURT POSTER

The le corbusier cards were a bit of an excuse for a jolly to France to see the great man’s work in person. Luckily the Barbican Gallery and a few other shops agreed to take my cards, and they are selling pretty well. ¶ Oh yeah, and how much do we love the le corbusier purist palette button badges you’ve created? Like… ttt – hhh – iii – sss much! And that’s a lot! How about gym class magazine buys a pack from you to give away as a competition prize in this issue? What do you think? ¶ Thanks! Yeah, sure, you can have ten packs. Gratis. ¶ VOLUME 1, ISSUE #03 — 27

LE CORBUSIER VILLA SAVOYE

ART

Thanks! You rock. You’ve also created three cool silkscreen prints… of Milton Court, Golden Lane Estate and, more recently, BT Tower. Do you do the silk-screening yourself? ¶ I work with a company called K2 Screen, in Clerkenwell in London. They know what they are doing. ¶ Are you an architecture fan? Do you have a favourite architect? ¶ As I mentioned, I live in the Barbican; I’ve lived here for twelve years; every morning I wake up to its amazing architecture. Its impossible not to think what a fantastic place it is, and how something like this would never be built now. I don’t have a favourite architect per se, just buildings I really like; I’m working on new illustrations of these as we speak. Watch this space. ¶ So far your cards and prints have focused on London icons. What about other architectural landmarks… like the Empire State Building in NYC, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, or perhaps the Sydney Opera House in, er, Sydney? ¶ That’s a great idea, but I’m not sure I can afford to jet to the other side of the world to do the research, so I might need to stick to places a little closer to home — for now anyhow. ¶ Thanks for your time, Stefi. You’re a star! ¶ You’re welcome, thank you. 28 — GYM CLASS MAGAZINE

LANDMARK

GREAT ARTHUR HOUSE, GOLDEN LANE ESTATE

SOURCE: TINYURL.COM/BARBICANPHOTO

BARBICAN

The Barbican is a residential estate in the City of London. It also contains, or is adjacent to, the Barbican Arts Centre, the Museum of London, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Barbican Public Library, the City of London School for Girls and a YMCA. ¶ The estate consists of 13 terrace blocks, grouped around a lake and green squares. The main buildings rise up to seven floors above a podium level, which links all the facilities in the Barbican providing a pedestrian route above street level. Some maisonettes are built into the podium structure. There is no vehicular access within the estate. ¶ The estate also contains three of London’s tallest residential towers, at 42 storeys and 123 metres (404 ft) high. The top two or three floors of each block comprise

BARBICAN CHRISTMAS

three penthouse flats.