Visuals for Sad Mag

Here are some of the visuals that Molly has contributed - She has done a great job with them, and I can now really visualize Sad Mag as an interesting physical publication. The bitmap on the cover images was a really good idea, especially as we have discussed the possibility of having Sad Mag risograph printed - I think this extra touch would really elevate the product.

There's quite a kitsch look, lo-fi look about the visuals, reminiscent of early i-D magazine, or perhaps The Face? The Face went out of print a long time ago now, and obviously iD is now a glossy, but it's good to be able to identify what group of publications Sad Mag could belong to. I think these two examples are more in keeping with the Sad Mag ethos than Vice magazine, which we discussed a lot in the early stages. We want something mellower and perhaps a bit more knowing a self-deprecating than Vice.

Molly has also designed a good logo for Sad Mag. We seem to have adopted the snood-dog as our official mascot, and I think he's working.  It's a nice, clean logo, and so will work well when applied to things other than the publication, such as merchandise  or our social media pages!

Sad Mag themes:

A list of possible themes for Sad Mag issues, all of which have the potential to be funny, poignant and, just a little bit, sad:

• What I found on the internet
• Prom night/wasted youth
• Sports day
• The sea side
• A grand day out (field days/school trips/days out that just don't quite live up to expectations)
• Small errors - 'whoops, I forgot'
• Giving and receiving

Molly also knocked up these, just messing around on Photoshop! I think she's starting to hit on something though, starting to move toward an aesthetic that could work for SadMag.

She found these images while looking for dog-snoods on Etsy, which is very charming: in this publication the internet could be  source of inspiration when looking for the weird and wonderful, as well as a very accessible means of communication between us and the reader. We should be careful not to become too reliant on the web though, in order for Sad Mag for retain a human quality.

We definitely need to start thinking about this project in terms of the design , as we have already decided as a group that although this is not a publication about design, there will be a strong emphasis on good design and high quality images and production. 

Moving forward with SadMag

We had a quick regroup this morning, before our PPP session, just to make sure that we were all still happy with how SadMag was developing, and that we were still aligned ideas-wise.  This chat was useful and helped us develop some ideas about what, specifically, we should be concentrating on as we continue to develop a viable business model.

Things to decide PRONTO:

• How frequently will we publish? Will SadMag remain quarterly as we originally intended?
• If we are a quarterly publication, must decide on the themes for our first four issues. The idea of themed issues is one that we were originally all excited about, and one that could mean we slot nicely into our target market (Oh Comely magazine does something similar)
• Does SadMag rely on contributions (other than the usual letters, photos, questions etc) from external artists and writers, or are the five of us the complete team, responsible for the content as well the production of the magazine? This could be a big factor in expenses. 

PPP session 11/1/2016

We now have four weeks exactly until the Life's A Pitch briefs .

Today we concentrated on marketing, thinking about what exactly marketing is, and what is marketable about our business ideas.

What we came up with:

- Our idea may be quite niche, but this could actually be of benefit to us: it means that we'll be able to focus more specifically on our target demographic, rather than trying to make something with a more general appeal. This could mean that the humorous essence of our idea becomes diluted and less ZING

- Sad Mag is a fun idea! The world of small/indie publishing can, from the outside at least, seem a bit dry/pretentious/inward looking and Sad Mag could provide a humorous antidote?

- MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth celebrating

- Our concept allows us to consider LOTS of content - illustration/writing/comics/photography/playlists - and this will prevent us from being focused too narrowly at just 'the arts crowd'

davood koochaki

Why care about all that shit on It's Nice That when you could look at Iranian outsider art. Davood Koochaki is my new hero, and this stuff is so, so good. Makes me what to draw and make drypoint etchings and celebrate being able to make pictures for no reason other than I can

(on a more technical note, so much to be learned about composition and character and tone from this work. It doesn't have to be lucid. It can be strange, lovely, dark, deep. Or silly. It can be anything. Pictures are powerful 

Good good pictures: jivya soma mashe

Wonderfully free and playful paintings made with acrylic and cow dung. The world is full of truly amazing stuff. Look out of the window. 

Ceramics classes

Been meaning to blog this for ages.

Last semester I took a term of ceramics classes, held every Monday evening. Partly because I love ceramics, and the work of a lot of contemporary practitioners who use them, especially people like Charlotte Mei and Alex Sickling and Kaye Blegvard, and would like to be able to make my own in the future, and partly because I thought it would be fun. A chance to get messy, and learn a new skill, and not have to worry about how 'good' anything is. Clay is so deliciously unpredictable, learning how to use it is a masterclass in 'not being precious'. More often than not, shit goes wrong, embrace it, deal with it, learn from it.

Over the 10 weeks of the course, I learned an awful lot! As well as learning actually how to construct various things, e.g  bowls, cups, vases, I also learned  about about different types of clay and how to use them, and how to glaze them.

I had a brilliant time at these classes, and will definitely consider using ceramics to expand my personal practice in the future.