What Is The Importance Of Graphic Design To The Success of Queer Publications?
Chapter 1: Introduction (400 words)
What does queer encompass?
How do you measure success? (scale of production, scale of distribution, scale of message, scale of changes they make)
Publishing can mean both commercial and funded and also DIY
Can graphic design be linked to the success of these publications
I will look at queer publications, their history and their present status, as well as looking to the future to see where
Chapter 2: Main Body 1 Context and Themes and Case Studies of Practice (3, 500 words)
Zines:
Examples:
Queer Zines by Printed Matter
Chapess
Leste
Commercial Magazines:
New wave of commercial magazine that have started to include queer voices
Still a disproportionate amount of solely queer publications
Talk about where the majorities are - lots of high end gay male magazines: Gay Letter, Butt, but only zines for gay or bisexual women
Accessibility for different genders - talk to Kuba about publications they distribute and Hebe from Manchester lgbt zine library
I will analyse how they use aesthetic to validate themselves, and the problems that this causes, favouring aesthetic over function and purpose
Historical: design perhaps wasn't as considered
e.g. On Our Backs, Amazon Quarterly
Contemporary: Design is incorporated to bridge the gap between DIY and commercial, weight of the publications has also increased, larger zines look more like anthologies or catalogues
Contemporary: Design is incorporated to bridge the gap between DIY and commercial, weight of the publications has also increased, larger zines look more like anthologies or catalogues
e.g. DIVA, Butt, Kutt, Girls Like Us, Dyke On, Them.
Archives:
What is the future of queer publications? Tied into the question of the future of all publications.
Publishing had it’s moment and then faded during the technological revolution.
Lesbian archives are often organised alphabetically by the authors first name because the surname was thought of as patriarchal as it often came from the father
Chapter 3: Main Body 3 Reflective Practice (700 words)
Conclude from the research a publications which can be considered unsuccessful because of the design, or perhaps how the design has influenced other factors that may have led to less success in terms of sale, distribution etc. Rebrand this example by applying modern graphic ideas to the design in order to increase the success of the magazine in the future/should it be relaunched.
Expand this into an archive? I’ve talked about how there are few physical archives of queer magazines (On Our Backs) and perhaps creating an archive or rebranding an existing one will ensure the future of present day queer mags.
What makes a successful queer publication?
Questioning the shift in platform
Zines originally existed because they had to, now it’s more of an aesthetic trend than a necessity
There’s no one straight path to creating the perfect queer publication. It depends on a myriad of factors, most of which are down to the decisions of straight people in a position of publishing power.
Zines encourage community because they are less designed and more accessible, however a well designed magazine and social media presence will create a larger community following by creating a consumable and desirable brand (which is why I did a rebrand for my project)
Do we need queer magazines now? It’s vital to be represented in every media sphere but queer people were kept quite long enough that we’ve taken to twitter and instagram now. Digital spheres have taken over the role of printed ones. An instagram has the same concept as a book - a collection of curated pictures and text bound together on the same platform.
Zines originally existed because they had to, now it’s more of an aesthetic trend than a necessity
There’s no one straight path to creating the perfect queer publication. It depends on a myriad of factors, most of which are down to the decisions of straight people in a position of publishing power.
Zines encourage community because they are less designed and more accessible, however a well designed magazine and social media presence will create a larger community following by creating a consumable and desirable brand (which is why I did a rebrand for my project)
Do we need queer magazines now? It’s vital to be represented in every media sphere but queer people were kept quite long enough that we’ve taken to twitter and instagram now. Digital spheres have taken over the role of printed ones. An instagram has the same concept as a book - a collection of curated pictures and text bound together on the same platform.