OBSCURE MAGAZINE
Obscure magazine is a publication highlighting underground and creative spaces in London. The cornerstone of the project is to understand how London interacts with those who define themselves as artists and dive into the relationship between the city and its creators. London has evolved throughout the decades along with the creatives who live there, mirroring the economic, social, and environmental changes taking place in the city. The principal theme in the magazine is to understand how people define themselves as artists. It is a title exclusive to no one, and we aimed to discover what factors link these people together. Artists in London are intrinsically connected to the creativity found in the city. We felt it best to explore these concepts by highlighting two self-proclaimed underground artists and learning about their stories and their way to find inspiration inside London. Both of our artists have different backgrounds, yet they share commonalities as London-based creatives. The second component of the publication is locating places in London for creating art, viewing street art and murals, celebrating art, and viewing art. We felt as if these different categories will allow all types of creatives to find a place where their needs and desires can be fulfilled and/or they can interact with art outside of their previous experiences. This magazine takes its graphic aesthetic from the British punk movement, emerged in 1976, having as distinguishable signature fashion designer Vivian Westwood and visual artist Malcolm McLaren. The movement represented creativity disruption, going against every established idea in that time, and represented a new perspective of fun, creativity, and protest. During this time, a new publication format was created to expose the movement's political thoughts and brand artists involved with it, the fanzine. The British punk movement goes with our idea for the magazine. Its philosophy and the rationale behind the project are related. We created Obscure magazine as an updated version of the punk publishing format, making it a visual hybrid between an indie magazine and a fanzine, using some resources from the punk and grunge cultures as contrasting colours diagonals and freestyle graphic expressions.