Whispers Magazine
- Client
Personal Project - Size
8.5" x 11" pages - Date
Fall 2004
Whispers was an experiment in the absurdity of the mainstream media. The most asinine stories were compiled and the goal was to artistically represent each story so that the images not only enhanced the text, but told the story of the text whether you read it or quickly flipped through the pages.
The masthead and cover design set out to disorient the reader. This was to prepare them for the experience they were about to have. The stories were the sort of stories you scream to your friends at a loud, crowded bar, so a photo from a drunken stumble home was used for the background.
The table of contents further enhanced the absurdity of the magazine. A large portion of the page was left blank. In the commercial printing world this is looked upon as wasted ad revenue. Since we had all the space in the world to work with, why not set the table of contents in type ranging from 4 – 9 pts, with altering baselines to boot.
Finally, for the feature spread that is shown here, spray paint stencils were used to illustrate the story. The type of the story was set on three layers. The base layer was set in Mrs. Eaves. This is the only evidence of any sort of printing tradition found anywhere within the magazine. The second layer was set (and tweaked) in Escrita from t26. The hand ink feel of the typeface was used to highlight random, unimportant pieces of the story. Finally, the third layer of type was created ransom note style, cutting out letter combinations from that days paper as a reminder of the traditional reporting which we were attacking.
(Side Note: While sitting in a local coffee shop cutting out letters from that days paper to scan and use for the layout, a police officer began questioning us, thinking we were creating a ransom note. True Story).
The final zine was printed on an Indigo Press and was then perfect bound.