Launching a city arts magazine

The Protagonist

A magazine to match the culture of Melbourne needed an creative design touch. The brand was about celebrating local art, in all forms, and the magazine would target both writers and artists. Therefore, the concept needed to be visually unique, without distracting from the artistic content.

Services •

Visual identity
Publication design

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Visual identity •

The bold logo, inspired by an ink blot, represents both the artist and the writer, simultaneously. Hand-crafted ink elements extended the brand identity, and flowed into the magazine. The end result was a beautiful balance between structure and chaos, sure to catch the eye, and touch the heart, of those who can relate to the messy process of all art.

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Publication design •

While most magazines are based on a templated layout, we knew this traditional way of working would not be right for 'The Protagonist'. So, our answer was to do the opposite. Each and every page was to look different, but artfully repeat common design elements, to create a consistent yet unique style. The goal was to get inside the mind of an artist, so we even stepped back from the computer, took ink to paper, and created custom typography.

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