Concept:
This Zine is about topics within the Egyptian culture that are considered taboo, these topics are so important and need to be out there for a society to evolve, however people ignore them for societal and religious reasons. With my zine i wanted to create a platform where it was easy for people to actually learn about these topics and to understand that it is extremely important to start discussing these topics openly.
Core problems that needed to be addressed:
01. Education
Education, is number one on my core problems list, the lack of it seems to be affecting everything else. Some education systems in Egypt don‘t tackle or stress on the idea of criticle thinking, »Critical thinking is that mode of thinking — about any subject, content, or problem — in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing it.« I think its more of memorization, rather than understanding first. Then applying what they learn If something seems to be wrong. However some people in our society (from my own experiences) seem to find that the best solution is to avoid it, or leave it for the time being, or just react without understanding why it is happening. Therefore it seems like that we do not progress, and for us to progress as a whole we need to have discussions so we can solve our issues that have been set aside for so long. –
02. Communication
There is a lack of communication when it comes to adressing topics that are considered taboo, because some people tend to bury their heads so deep in the sand, to avoid facing their problems whether its personal or societal. Through observational analysis i realized that Egyptian magazines somehow tend to shy away from topics such as these because of censorship laws, however some magazines do publish articles regarding taboo like topics, but they take place online, however that means they don‘t reach everyone just a small segment of society. Therefore if its »OUT OF SIGHT ITS OUT OF MIND.«
03. Trust
Trust plays a role here when it comes to publishing, sometimes articles that address social problems in Cairo get censored because the topics within the articles are still considered taboo, even though the articles might be addressing them for certain reasons such as social change or awarness, the censorship offices do not bother to ask why or really care for the messages behind the articles, there is no trust. Therefore keeping people oblivious of what is really happening in their own country, to protect the country‘s "image" .
04. Censorship
Artistic expression in Egypt is one of the most tightly controlled forms of expression, particularly when the art addresses one of the three historically controversial topics, which are: politics, religion, and sex. Freedom of expression, which grants rights to creative and media agencies, is a societal right provided by international legislations as stated in (Article 19) of the International Treaty of Civic and political Rights and (Article 19) of the universal Declaration of Human Rights.
05. Taboo
Topics that are considered taboo, are things that defy social norms or are not socially acceptable. According to the dictionary taboo is »A social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.« Examples of topics that are considered taboo in Egypt are (Drugs, fornication, homosexuality, inter-religon marriage, pornography, murder, pedophilia, pornography and suicide, ext.) and these topics are usually censored when they are published.
06. Awareness
Awareness, communication, and taboo are all connected to censorship. How can publishers raise awareness about unconventional topics without provoking unwanted censorship is a problem that many publishers face, even if its not visually provoking publishers have to be very subtle.
Concept Development
Before getting into magazine analysis and my design process i decided to write down my core values to guide me with my design process, so i can create my own identity, from my values regarding the design and the content itself. I have three sections which are Communication, Society, and Design.
Before getting into magazine analysis and my design process i decided to write down my core values to guide me with my design process, so i can create my own identity, from my values regarding the design and the content itself. I have three sections which are Communication, Society, and Design.
01. Communication
From the concept of communication i extracted words such as (truth, discussion, and awareness)
First of all i would want my magazine to be honest, which means that my articles would refer to existing societal problems.
My magazine is supossed to be an open space for discussions, meaning that the topics should raise awareness so people can become acquainted of what is going on in our society, whether they disagree or agree the concept of the magazine is there to solely exist to open up the discussion about these topics so they are not ignored or forgotten about any longer.
02. Society
From the word society i extracted the words, (big, diverse, hectic, and distracted) from it. Which actually discribes our daily lives in Cairo, Cairo has an estimated population of 12 million. From my own daily observations of the streets of Cairo i think it is safe to say that we are a big, hectic, and distracted city, and it is normal for us to be distracted. For my magazine i decided that it should be a small magazine preferably A5, because it could be easily carried around and the weight of the paper would be light, so it can be flexiable and comfortable for the reader, and the text as well should be very easy on the eyes .
03. Design
I decided that my core values for the design should emody (subtelty, ambition, and a new fresh design) that has not been introduced yet into the market. For subtelty the text should be very clean and intellectual, meaning that there are no suprieses because the articles are very deep and important that i do not want to disrespect the articles. By ambition i mean that the design of the whole magazine should have a new modern aesthetic feel to it, something that is unique, as for fresh design i wanted to creat something that people were not used to seeing (not your typical) magazine.
Paper and Size
When picking the paper and size i had to put in mind that the magazine is an underground low-budget therefore the material should be inexpensize and the size as small as possible, also when thinking of the size i had previously decided on a small size because we live in a hectic city therefore being able to just place the magazine in a small bag or carry it around should be no problem.
