One of my fears is to be seated at a table with no matter how many people, not being able to join their conversation. This thought is pressing me so much because it simulates the self-doubt and frustration I know I would feel facing this hypothesis. Therefore, my counterbalance lies on journalism because with every piece/publication I read, I know that fear shrinks and it does so until my confidence is restored and I can carry on with the day.
With this project, I explore the possible creative dimensions of the latest articles I read. We are living historical times for both journalism and humanity and I think now it's a better time than ever to exploit the visual language we possess as designers to amplify the audience of the journalists and reverberate longer in their memory.
The New Yorker - Cover I: in the head wrap of the African-American woman there is actually a stylised version of the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, the place where George Floyd was killed by a police officers kneeling on his neck.
- Cover II: the afro hair off the African-American woman is composed of the shape of the African continent and the U.S., the latter being tilted, as a metaphor of the current situation in the region: a pandemic called racism woken up in the middle of an extreme health crisis amidst sharp political tensions.
time - Cover I: portrays recent event's message about the systematic racism existing in the law enforcement figures. There is a clear issue in their training that persists and too often they come down to the last resort without being necessary. Force and authority should be exerted sensibly. By arson, destruction and violence, no protest is going to highlight the main idea here. George Floyd is a momentum like there have been many others before him but he's the straw that broke the camel's back. We should not let him die in vain and make his death meaningful for future generations. I found the idea of the puzzle pieces very emblematic here as we should always treat Floyd as part of the bigger story to build the case for racism. The other parts of the puzzle are Ahmaud Arbery, Yvette Smith, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor and Darrius Stewart, all victims of the same issue but many people forgot their names.
- Cover II: the world is questioning both the past and present, rethinking events that used to be praised and looking at them from different angles. It feels like we want to right every wrong and there is such a bold uncertainty when it comes to how the world is about to be rendered at this moment. I used the photo from the current protests and I pixelated it like we see the photos that are yet to be properly loaded on a search engine. I made a board message clearer to stress its message.
I have always been a massive fan of Bloomberg Businessweek covers because they are always so modern in terms of design and they are "vocal" with their type (see the cover on social media) while backing it up with simple, striking meaningful graphics. For this cover, I chose to talk about how history repeats itself until a lesson is drawn and a change is made. Malcolm X, a militant against racism whose eloquence remains historical, is my perfect cover figure. I titled the issue "CAN WE TALK ABOUT RACISM", expressing it behind the puzzle piece correspondent to the mouth (the symbol for "talk"), as behind Malcolm X figure there still is a conversation that hasn't found its answer.
the economist: Last but not least is a publication easily recognisable by its vectorial graphics. The message usually conveys one idea and the visuals are usually made up by two elements.
- Cover I: I was inspired by the idea of catching up with the world to see how many problems we have failed to address for good despite any previous attempt. We were a little slow on that, hence the decision to use a snail as a metaphor for humanity.
- Cover II: The commencement is the greatest part of uni life and it's called "commencement" because it should mark the beginning of something thrilling, equally challenging but for sure thrilling. Thinking about this generation of graduates I couldn't resist a strange, grim feeling imagining the inevitability of skipping this part of your student life. Everyone finds bittersweet ways to celebrate (balloons + candles) under the heavy shadow of a pandemic (the virus contour made by the candles and their flames) that is going to stick for a while.
