Craig Oldham's In Loving Memory of Work
Yoni Lefevre's Illustrations to Costumes
The Pitchfork Review: Bjork issue
After writing this many articles, Liv began to get a bit fed up of the same routine. She decided to go freelance and wrote for a few big name magazines. However, when Rough Trade approached her on LinkedIn and asked her to create and edit a magazine for the shop, she couldn't resist as this was her dream job, being such a huge music lover.
As the magazine was new Liv was given free creative control, but had no idea how to design and create a magazine in the first place. Looking at magazines such as Clash, Wire and NME for inspiration, she decided that these were far too clean and didn't suit her personal style or the shops style at all.
So instead she began to ask what if the magazine was a person? Looking instead at old gig posters and punk zines as well as the physical interior of the shop (scribbled on tills and toilet walls, boxes every where) the style started to form. Bruce Usher designed most of the magazine with Liv, and other artists/illustrators Liv had discovered while working for It's Nice That were brought in to do artwork.
As Liv had a limited budget per magazine, she had to compromise on some aspects. Getting bands that had been interviewed in the magazine to write some of the features such as horoscopes saved money and was an interesting way of getting new blood into the magazine. Bands also sent in photos they had taken themselves whilst on tour - this only cost the magazine the money for a disposable camera! At other times, when musicians were abroad etc, Liv had to source photographers living nearby to get photographs.
One issue was guest edited by Mac Demarco, who did a fashion feature with photos taken himself, and the shoot only featured one T Shirt modelled by one person which fit the style of the magazine perfectly.
Liv credits the success of the magazine and the happiness with what she had created with these things;
- lack of budget/time. If you run out of money, do everything yourself
- complete creative freedom
- people
- fun
Other advice she gave was to ask yourself the questions;
- what are you really into?
- what do you really want?
I loved Liv's talk, she was really entertaining and down to earth. I identified strongly with her struggles with not feeling as if she was on the right path during university, as the worry of not succeeding in my chosen field is something I am struggling with at the moment. Her eventual happiness in a job she liked was uplifting and inspired me, especially to explore new artists/designers and write more about why I like their work.
Her actual work and determination on the Rough Trade magazine is amazing to see, considering she started out with no idea how to create a magazine let alone over 15 issues. The magazines themselves are scruffy and show a real creative flair in both the designer Bruce as well as Liv. I am considering getting my hands on a copy!
Mulling over her advice and questions to ask yourself, I think I have come up with some answers.
What are you really into?
I am really into music, people and creative and original design solutions.
What do you really want?
I want to be happy and successful in my chosen field. I want to be creating work and meeting new people, expanding my friendship groups and continually being inspired.
I want to be happy and successful in my chosen field. I want to be creating work and meeting new people, expanding my friendship groups and continually being inspired.
