Queervallis is a magazine I designed for my Typography 3 class in the spring of 2022. It was a study of typography, print design, photography, and writing. I conducted multiple interviews and photoshoots with my friends, drafted wireframes for the spreads, and turned the interviews into formatted text to create a 28 page magazine.
The initial research and concept ideation began with my first interviewee, Ray. We spent time talking about ideas for interview questions and how he might like to be represented in my project. I could already see the magazine taking shape, and I didn't commit myself to any design ideas or themes early on. It became a goal of mine to lean on the folks I was working with when designing around their images and words, so I could represent them instead of have them represent me.
As I dove into layout designs, I began to experiment with sharper corners, sans serif fonts, and cohesive color choices. I developed wireframe drafts, first on paper and then moved to InDesign. The wireframes allowed me to visualize the look and feel, and I designed them intentionally to showcase photography and significant short quotes. I took inspiration from fashion magazines, and collected examples of covers, full spreads, and interview spreads.
I had completed my first two interviews at this point, and I had more of an idea of what the overall messaging would be. I also took input from the folks I interviewed on how they wanted their pages to look, and what kinds of fonts they felt like suited their personal aesthetic. Not only was I photographing the interviewees, but I also captured images of their homes, work places, favorite coffee shop, and cute plants.
Annabelle introduced the concept of incorporating more plant life into the magazine as a connecting thread between the interviewees. They all to some degree had a beloved potted plant in their life that I photographed for the project. Annabelle especially had a connection to some of the plants around Interzone, a local coffee shop where I conducted some of my interviews. “I want the font you use for my page to be similar to what you’d see on a typewriter,” she asked me. “It’s similar to the font style Interzone uses in their signs.”
The final magazine came together after 10 weeks, and was a big success. This has been my favorite design project I’ve done by far. Partially because of how beautiful the work came out, but also because of the connections I formed with those who helped make it happen. One of the most challenging aspects was balancing the amount of writing I had to do, while also experimenting with the typographical elements. It was the first time I had to design over a dozen page layouts. Were I to do this project again, I would have liked to make multiple passes of the wireframes, and build them alongside the finished product. Overall, I had a lot of meaningful conversations with queer folks that taught me a lot about both myself and the community around me. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share their experiences and connect them back to my own.
My last assignment for the class was to put together a video to advertise my magazine. It was difficult to encapsulate the deep, meaningful connections in just one minute of film. I had clips from my photoshoots and various drag performances around town that I synced up to music by the band Glass Beach, an LA-based bedroom pop group with a transgender front person.