Pigeon Magazine
Branding, Web Site, Editorial Design
Pigeon Magazine is a true passion project that I’ve created, developed, and turned into a small annual publication. The purpose is to identify independent artists that are either creating or doing amazing things with their work that creates community, goes beyond the day to day grind, and above all inspires either through the work or through the story behind it.
Visit the project here: www.thepigeonmag.com
THE PROBLEM
There are too many platforms that are “pay-to-play” and they ignore those that are maybe doing something unconventional, innovative, or just incredible by human standards. This is here to correct that and help promote artists as well as inspire audiences.
THE BRIEF
Create a community, a safe space for creators to tell their story, share their work, and invite the world into theirs. It must be online and there must be a tangible release to create a collection and provides contributors with a published insight.
INSIGHTS & LEARNINGS
The cost of print, travel, merchandise, distribution, and man hours does not equate to a profitable business without producing massive quantities. It requires more work in terms of “getting in front of people” or “educating” people” about the topics within.
THE BRANDING
Created with the idea that this book should look like a normal coffee table book. Something that can be easily recognized and iconic on shelf while remaining flexible to evolution over time. The nameplate base font, sub-font, and cover image collage was specifically chosen to be constant on the cover; elegant and approachable for the eyes of a typical corporate persona or avid independent publication reader. A trick, really, to invite the unsuspecting into what can sometimes be full of narrative and compositional chaos built to represent how insane and how unforgiving the independent art world can be.
PHOTO TREATMENT
The primary photo treatment for cover images, front and back, is a true black and white. Rather than simply remove the color content I carefully curate each image and change the color profile from a camera RGB to Monotone. Then I adjust levels, contrast, exposure, and clarity to create a consist BW throughout.
Cropping and collaging the images is kept messy and simple using tools like the lasso tool, magic wand, and the occasional pen tool. The reason for this frenetic approach is to provide some inclination to what’s contained within. Each story is different and while some are friendly and approachable, others flow like the art they are representing, or are chaotic to represent the energy behind the artists.
CONTENT STRUCTURE
Overall I aimed for something comfortable and legible when approaching the structure of the book. Generally simple layouts that allowed for content to fluctuate between 1, 2, and 3 columns based on what is available and sticking to the straight forward best practices of editorial design. This creates an experience that does not distract from the content and allows for any moments that need to stand out to truly jump off the pages.
8-12 pt font for body copy with at least 3 additional pts of leading between lines.
-5 tracking throughout, adjusting where needed.
Serif font for readability
Sans Serif font for headings and sub-heads
Free reign customization over feature stories that can ignore all the rules when necessary.
Enjoy the whitespace and let imagery do its job.
DESIGN
The design of each story fluctuates based on its narrative, what “feels” right, and the content that’s available to support it. As the primary designer and editor behind the book I create additional assets or add to existing content through photo manipulation, illustration, or finding more interesting ways to display each story so that it takes on a life of its own.
THE WEBSITE
I wanted the site to be a bit more up front with how frenetic and a-miss things are in the indie art world and maintain the simplicity of the black and white approach. Designed to be responsive throughout and readable but also to feel like something’s broken.
Blocks of text overlap images with white holding shapes that are just a bit too close to the edge of the text. When the window is scaled to the largest possible size on desktop or on mobile everything is seemingly working and simple. However, when viewers tilt their phone unprovoked or scale their window screen to various sizes they are treated to easter eggs throughout. Reveals of hidden images, messages, illustrations, animations, and sometimes even links to musicians own web pages are scattered throughout the stories.
My Role: Editor, Creator, Producer, Writer, Designer, Photographer, Illustrator, Animator, Videographer, Motion Designer, Web
Contributors: Countless contributors and the numbers are growing with each issue
Length of Project:
Ongoing