Conceptual Research

For conceptual research, I tru to find publications that were produced collaboratively in order to understand how practitioners have combined their different practices, skills and methods to produce projects, conveying how collaborations work in the professional world. I also focus on publications that include image, text and ways of visualising data as a way of understanding methods to apply to my own publication.

Migrant Journal
About: Migrant Journal is a series of six publications exploring different aspects of migration such as modern day political and socio-cultural impacts from people fleeing war, persecution, poverty, or environmental conditions. They also choose to often reference more conceptual ideas of movement relating to migration as a way of reminding the audience that although "migration" today is inextricably linked to the mass movement of humans (Refugee Crisis), migration has always defined humanity. Their aim is to challenge the more mainstream narratives by exploring the circulation of goods, information, animals, plants, and people instead of focusing on creating exploitative narratives as the tabloids/news often do.

"Migrant Journal attempts to truly understand migration in all its forms and provide an antidote to the polemic discourse it is unfortunately associated with in contemporary culture." https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/migrant-journal-publication-graphic-design-100619

Collaboration: Migrant Journal is a collaboration between Justinien Tribillon, Michaela Büsse and Dámaso Randulfe, who are the editors, and Offshore Studio who are the co-editors and designers. These practitioners, however, mainly curate the information and media they gather from open invitation to other "artists, journalists, academics, designers, architects, philosophers, activists and citizens" to interpret the briefs they set out for each journal, and ensure their unprejudiced and unbiased values are reflected in their methods.

Concepts:
Issue 1 - Across Country: "The refugee crisis that Europe is currently facing is shedding a dramatic light on the countryside. Syrians refugees flee the war via Turkey, then Greece and their isolated beaches, to move on to travel Europe across country, fields and scenic landscapes via Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia... The forgotten rural land is the stage of our present migration tragedy, not cities."
Issue 2 - Wired Capital: "The contradiction between restrictions imposed on the movement of people and the acceleration in the circulation of goods, services, money—in one word capital—boosted by free-trade spaces and mechanisms is reaching new levels of paradox and absurdity."
Issue 3 - Flowing Grounds: "In 2016, more people flew in planes than ever recorded in history. Technology has also enabled new developments to take place through the air, from drones to satellite communication. Throughout millennia, water particles, seeds and birds have been avid migrants, essential for our global ecosystem. The sea is also home to nomadic populations of humans and animals; a millennial stage for exploration, a source of food and life—and a contested space."
Issue 4 - Dark Matters: "In this fourth issue, read about the migration of psychotropic mushroom across the deserts of California, the decolonisation of money, the use of artificial intelligence to determine asylum seekers origins, hear about centuries-old peoples from West Africa living deep in the forest of Suriname or the “kamikazis” smuggling petrol from Nigeria to Benin—and many other stories of darkness and migration."
Issue 5 - Micro Odysseys: "the fifth and penultimate issue of Migrant Journal, we explore the microscopic in movement: from shooting stars to shifting sands, bacteria in Estonia and particles in Geneva, mosquitoes in fascist Italy and tuberculosis in Indian cities, micro-plastics floating in the Pacific Ocean, Roman weeds and their mysterious migration to Copenhagen."
Issue 6 - Foreign Agents: "the sixth and final issue of Migrant Journal, you will follow the journeys of Diamond Painting across China, the real-life utopia of Esperanto, the bedazzled domes of Jerusalem and the digital landscapes of Poland, an exploration of Freud's 'uncanny' and Borges's labyrinths, but also buddae jjigae and fusion-style Polish carp among many other stories."

Each of their issues' titles follow a theme of two word titles, relating to the themes explored within the book however still providing enough enigma to spark interest. The descriptions of each of their issues also shows how each book explores a very specific but migration-related topic, clearly stating the countries' names and political/socio-cultural relation.

I think it would be effective to clearly describe the countries explored, and its cultural history for my publications - in the blurb, or a proposal for a website/social media advertising.

"The decision to produce a magazine, and not make a website or a book, was purposeful.“We knew Migrant had to be a printed publication and not some online journal, because we felt it needed to be a document of this time,” Isabel explains. “Something you can find in libraries later on or rediscover. As soon as it’s online, it’s lost in the steam of information and we didn’t want this. We wanted Migrant to be a long read, and be read for a long time, and print ages better than digital.”

https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/migrant-journal-publication-graphic-design-100619

Analysis: All books in the series follow the same size, paper-stock and theme of two colour colour palettes. This consistency creates a brand identity while also conveying how all elements of migration are related. The custom typeface looks clean and minimal, connoting the serious topics however its rounded bowls and sans-serif create a more friendly tone, inviting the audience to understand/relate to the topics and reflecting their more positive values. The use of a sans serif font conveys this value of dismissing mainstream narratives by opposing conventional news typefaces, which are often serif.

The lines that appear on all the covers create a sense of continuity, and represent movement which directly connotes the idea of migration. Using lines is also a more neutral and conceptual approach that would avoid the issues faced with creating a narrative when choosing an image for a front cover, whereas simple lines can translate a more simple idea. In Dark Matters, the straight lines combined with the metallic silver connote wires, that relate to the focus on technology, whereas in Flowing Grounds, the relation to waves and "flowing" is direct.

Issue 4 - Dark Matters is the issue I personally find most interesting. Migrant Journal uses spot-colour print process to create the very specific shade they feel represents the themes most, which was an idea formed by Offshore Studios. The choice of colour is extremely important as the minimalist line designs are dependent on the colour choices to convey the theme, and the content of the book continues to follow these colour themes. The silver, metallic shade paired with the straight lines connote infastructure, metal, antennae etc. 

The content of the book continues this monochromatic black and silver theme, but also includes a neon green which is the first time Migrant Journal moves away from their often earth toned/nature related tones. Christoph, from Offshore Studios, says "This was the first time a neon spot colour came into play. We felt it was appropriate for the issue but also gave the whole series a fresh and interesting turn in terms of colour" which conveys how although they are dealing with topical issues, they are still aware of the need for the publication to be contemporary to attract their audience.

These strict colour themes also are chosen to create a physical reading experience, allowing all images and text to emphasise the theme of migration covered in the issue. 

Fuzzy Logic VOL.83

by Tom Joyes

About: Fuzzy Logic is described as a  “a ‘technodrama’ about bodies, borders and surveillance.” It's a publication in the form of a comic book, in response to a brief provided by Metahaven to explore the topic of migration based on research trips within the EU. The response Tom Joyes chooses to explore is about the process of biometric profiling and the role that infrastructure and technology have in migration processes. However, he chooses to portray this in a conceptual comic book style, following the story of a sheep and a wolf migrating between a vegetable processing unit in Italy and a data-storage fortification in France.

Collaboration: Fuzzy Logic was conceptually conceived by designer Tom Joyes after his four month intensive research programme 'Checkpoints and Chokepoints' at ArtEZ Arnhem in response to the Metahaven brief. The publication will be exhibited in response to the brief in collaboration with other projects created by Loukie van Hasselt, Isabel Mager, and Hanna Rullman. 

The publication itself may not be a direct result of professional collaboration, however the outcome and exhibition is which conveys to me other ways of approaching collaborations for my project.

Analysis: The use of a sheep and wolf character, with little to no text, creates an impersonal representation of migrating bodies, which may be effective in translating to readers the issues migrators face as there's less attachment to the idea that this applies to human migration. This passive engagement is effective in teaching those who prefer not to actively engage in migration politics. 
Fuzzy Logic follows a monochromatic, black and white colour scheme which further emphasises the ability for audiences to passive engagement, and the disconnect between real life migrations and what the comic book is conceptually exploring. However, it can also be to create a solemn and serious tone as the topic of biometric profiling explored are often hardships for the real life human migrators.

There is a consistent use of data visualisation techniques such as contour lines, to create the form of the figures, and diagrams which all act as a way of telling the story as panels in a comic book would, while also providing a professional process of presenting information to do with biometric profiling, infra red cameras and image recognition softwares. This method of presenting images also relates to the style 'technodrama' which Joyes aims to use. It provides impact while connoting technological clichés in a way that is entertaining and visually compelling as a comic book would.

The use of lines that was prevalent in Migrant Journal is apparent here as well. They curves and the continuation outside of the margins of the page connote the movement the characters go through while migrating. The lines connecting images of the characters and objects, with the fragmented illustrations in the background create the sense of profiling, once again relating to the theme and also conveying modern day processes migrants face.

The typeface created by Joyes for the comic also reflects the idea of movement, and the purpose of the lines throughout the book. The typeface seems to clearly follow a square grid, connoting the theme of technology. The bold, curved brackets create a sense of movement as the glyph's stems appear to flow into each other rather than having thin, sharp edges. This is further reflected by the "C" in "LOGIC" tilting to connect to the descender of the "Y".

Nansen Magazine
Issue 1

About: Nansen is a two series magazine that focuses on the experiences of migrants. The name is based on Fridtjof Nansen who was a Norwegian explorer and humanitarian who focused on orchestrating relief for refugees after WW1. His most known contribution is the Nansen Passport; a document that allowed refugees passage into other countries. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922. Nansen Magazine has chosen his name as it reflects their values to represent migrants and their shared experiences in their new country such as learning a new language.
Each issue focuses on one migrant as a way to delve "“deep into their personal experiences, and also the history of their community and the context in which they have migrated,” - Nansen’s publisher and editor Vanessa Ellingham. “Our aim is to connect and celebrate migrants of all kinds, with the idea that focusing on just one migrant at a time allows us to build a strong connection between reader and subject.”

About the first issue: This issue is focused on Aydin Akin, a Turkish man who migrated to Germany about 50 years ago and is angry about the hostile rhetoric mainstream media paints the refugee crisis to be. Nansen wants to highlight that mass-migration is a large part of history, "an age-old phenomenon." Over a million Turks, including Aydin, moved to West Germany during the 60's to fill the country's labour shortage.

“The word ‘unprecedented’ is consistently being used to describe the arrival of refugees in the present day,” Vanessa says, yet migration is a fundamental part of humanity’s existence – and has been for centuries.

Collaboration: Nansen Magazine had to collaborate with each of the migrants that they base their issue on, for example in Issue 1, they collaborated with Aydin Akin. Although he isn't a designer, he provided a majority of their content in the form of their interview with him which is still a collaboration. This allows me to think of other potential collabs for my project - possibly finding someone to interview.

Analysis: The feature on Akin is very stripped down and minimal - the grid layout is visible, the text is a simple black sans-serif, and the background is a plain white. This stripped down appearance connotes the idea of tracing back history and breaking down rhetorics built in tabloids that are usually overwhelmed with elements and bright colours. This allows for the focus to be on the images of Akin, as his images are colourful and connote a lot of joy, which contrast with the monochromatic, plain design. The grids also lead the eye to the images, emphasising this focus on personal understandings of Akin's experiences.

The simple, stripped back design also contrasts with the large double spread images on other pages. This relates to the idea of using image and bright colour to emphasise to the viewer the positive rhetoric that Nansen values, and also allows it to be more memorable to the reader.