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This project has been all about looking in to the areas of design that interest us. As a collective we decided to enquire into designers methods their personal approaches and ways of working, rather than trying to get a general overview of everything within this vast industry. A lot went in to researching who we were going to contact, but we decided to focus on smaller more independent magazines and zines. We felt that by focusing on responses opposed to generic commercial replies. For us this project worked. We wanted to know about the people behind it. We wanted to speak to the people who created the work, not those who simply directed it.

the processess we have been through ourselves.

OST IS REIOUS.

CRACK THE WORD NOM DE STRIP WAX OWT ZINES by OCTAGON BONESHAKER LIONHEART PRINTED PAGES HUCK ANORAK INDIE FERSHER EYE ARTICLE WORKS THREAD DONT PANIC ART LICKS WHITE FUNGUS NEVERTHELESS RADIUS PROCESS JOURNAL DRUKEN WEREWOLF CEREAL PAPER

We wanted the whole process to be a lot more personal, we wanted to engage with the designers we contacted not just send them faceless emails.

By producing something physical to send them we were able to show our genuine interest in the designers and the work they produce.

We collectively produced and put together a small package to send out, containing a brief introduction to the project and ourselves, a small questionnaire for the a stamp and address for information.

Each package was personalised with the attachment of a small name slip which directly and personally addressed the person(s) we wanted to engage with and talk to.

In total we produced and sent out 10 of these packs to companies across the whole of the UK from Manchester to London. As well as this we sent out a further 16 emails.

POS PRE CIOU

1.Tell us about your job in one sentence using the word PEANUT. After I liberally apply peanut butter to my freshly baked sourdough loaf, i settle down to help curate and gather content for boneshaker magazine - an ink on paper sort of magazine that celebrates the people that choose to ride bicycles.

2. What skills and attributes help you do your job?

Patience, passion, organisation and on occasion, a way with words.

3. Besides your job what other creative outputs do you have?

Are you an amateur photographer?

No I’m not an amateur photographer, but i do make a little also build a mean stone wall.

EDITORIAL DESIGNERS ARE HARD TO GET HOLD OF.

ITS VERY UNGLAMOUROUS Hi there Sophie, text document attached with completed questions. we put boneshaker together around our kitchen tables, as such. all very unglamorous i’m afraid. cheers for now!

James

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O Q1: Tell us about your job in one sentence using the word Lemon I do design and typesetting for DW magazine, it has absolutely nothing to do with lemons (sorry!).

Q2: What skills and attributes help you do your job?

I work in Indesign for each issue, you need a keen eye for detail as a typesetter, as it’s not just

editor) and I have gotten a lot stricter with double, triple and quadruple checking everything. That’s something that also transfers into freelance work - whether you’re just doing design or not- because clients often won’t accept a typo as their fault if it’s gone to print already, so it’s always best to check everything even when it’s strictly not your responsibility.

Patience is also a key thing for all the work I do, sometimes as the designer you don’t get to your working for is paying you to create something they like, whether or not that includes comic sans (although it’s always worth trying to politely persuade them otherwise). It’s annoying when you’re starting out and you get a few clients with awful design taste as you don’t really want to put it in your portfolio, but I’ve found a way around that is to show the development work rather than the

Q3: What process do you go through before designing a new issue?

DW is done on a pretty tight budget. Tiffany started out running it as a zine printed in black and white, made in Microsoft Publisher for a few years, then she got funding from the Princes Trust (who are awesome by the way, if you ever need funding, give them a try) to turn it into a business. This meant that everything had to be done on a small budget so that the magazine could afford to keep going if it had a few months of trouble trying to get advertisers, as a sort of backup. The design was done in a way that I was given a one off fee for creating something that would be very easy to adapt for each issue -which is why you’ll notice parts of it feel a little bit like a book- to save us time and money. So now essentially what happens is this: Tiffany sends through a dropbox folder with every place in our indesign template. Then there’s a small amount of wriggling things around, but all Tif-

Throughout the whole process I do drink a huge amount of tea, I think 15 cups in one day is my record, and I’ve recently got a teeny tiny kitten so I’ve had to learn to design with only one arm as she likes to be held all day.

Q4: Besides your job what other creative outputs do you have?

I often complain to my parents that sometimes no matter what I do it feels like work.. If I do some photography, or an illustration i’m immediately thinking about how I could expand it into a larger project, where I could try and sell it etc so I tend to not do anything hugely creative that isn’t work (which to be honest just means I spend like 98% of my time working! It’s all so addictive..) But when I’m not working I’m reading, in a big way. I recently did an internship at Little, Brown who are quite a large publishing house, they gave me about 20 free books and I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited.

Emma Hardy

DRUNKEN WOLF MAGAZINE

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BEER AND BRAINSTORMS 1. Tell us about your job in one sentence using the word ROBOT. 2. What skills and attributes help you do your job?

3. Besides your job what other creative outputs do you have?

4. What process do you go through before designing a new issue?

1. Robots have dominated, the human race eliminated and yet PAPER still strives to craft the beautiful, surreal and spectacular work of talented emerging artbots.

2. As we work across the creative industries, having design rules and styles, help us to make surrounded with fresh talented artwork, helps us keep the publication fresh and inspirational.

3. I studied Architecture for 6 years and make 4. Beer and brainstorms, lots of them (Brainstorms that is). Each issue has it’s own theme, so we need to push the limits of each theme idea to make sure that we are appealing to a wide audience with diverse work.

CRACK MAGAZINE

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Q1: Tell us about your job in one sentence using the word GREEN I teach graphic design at a university, I make graphic design for clients who pay me in greenbacks, and I make independent publications.

Q2: What skills and attributes help you do your job?

Time management skills, a good attitude, print design experience, passion for reading, typography skills (choosing and setting type), understanding of art and design theory and history, critical theory, ability to write html and css, a giant professional network, verbal and written communication skills

Q3: What process do you go through before designing a new issue?

I usually work on several issues at one time with some preconceived idea of what I want to talk about (at least as a starting point). I keep a journal and a sketchbook and I take a lot of photographs. In my studio time, I make a lot of loose compositions and write short sloppy essays.

Eventually, I compile things that make sense together to form an issue.

Then I edit the issue to make a compelling, short, open-ended reading experience.

Q4: Besides your job what other creative outputs do you have?

I do take a lot of photographs, I suppose somewhat amateurishly. I am also interested in cooking, eating, and craft cocktails which I believe is creative. I like to write. I like printmaking, but that’s closely related to my job. I also love music and fantasize about taking drum lessons when I

Aggie Toppins

ZINES by OCTAGON

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WHAT DO WE KNOW?

This project has helped us shed some light on an area of industry that we have always been interested in but realistically knew very little about. We received very different replies from all of the companies and individuals that got back to us throughout this research period but they have all been useful in their own ways.

It has become obvious to us that Editorial design isn’t as simple as taking content produced by others and laying it out nicely on different spreads, theres a lot more to it especially when it comes to small scale editorial productions. Below is a brief summary of what we have been told is key to succeeding.

Need to be open minded- Working in an area of design that has so much

change, never expect to be able to do whatever you feel is best.

Responsibility- This is very important, your not simply responsible for your own image your responsible for a whole team of people, if you produce something individual. You also have to be responsible in the sense that a lot of small scale production will be produced on a very modest budget, you can produce a 500 page book if it can’t be afforded you need to be considerate as a designer or no ones going to hire you.

Theres no set job description- Even if you feel something is not really your job to do its better to be safe than sorry. For example if something is spelt wrong its more often than not gonna come back on you, even if its not your job just do it anyway its best to be sure.

Dont get trapped- Don’t become too trapped by your work, all of the designers that have got back to us have told us that they have other creative outputs that help them further their work. Don’t believe that you are going to get better at editorial design by simply sitting in front of indesign, get inspiration from other things.

A good editorial designer is…

-Organised and good with time management.

-A good communicator both visually and verbally.

-Patient, don’t rush through things.

-Open minded.

-Fresh, don’t be mundane.

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