Everything that has inspired me...

In class during one of the exercises we had to pick a zine from a pile and write about it. Clod Magazine caught my eye and for some reason I was drawn to its almost DIY aesthetic.

This is when I discovered the world and history of underground/countercultural magazines with some notable examples such as HitWeek, IT Magazine and OZ Magazine catching my eye. Whilst conducting some research these types of newspapers were characterised by "radical experimentation and disregard for convention, as well as in comparable conditions of political and social upheaval." (Letterform Archive)

The DIY look was something I definitely wanted to achieve, mainly through mismatched or custom type, collages and an overall maximalist feel to portray the human element but also the chaotic nature of storytelling. Coupled with this I took a lot of inspiration from computer magazines from the internet archive (which is unfortunately down). Adventure Probe was a notable one in which I was inspired by the graphics and illustrative style.

I visited a number of bookstores to garner some inspiration from hidden bookstores such as Fully Booked in Thornbury in which I found alot of vintage children's picturebooks and comics to Perimeter books featuring more established, high-end artist books. Flipping through these books particularly from the archives was like stepping back in time. It was so cool seeing how different printing was and how different the design layouts and typography was. Places visited (and would visit again!):

• Fully Booked bookstore
• RMIT Library periodicals
• RMIT Design Archives
• Chapel St Bazaar
• New International Bookshop
• Perimeter Books