(I apologize for my accent)
Introductions first: my name is Larissa Martins, but I’d rather be called Lari. During these 5 weeks I have created a literary magazine, which is a very different kind of magazines. They are created for and by writers and artists, usually unknown or little known, who want to share their art with the world and even find a way of earning recognition. Being a writer myself, I identified with this genre very much, and thought it would be interesting and rewarding to produce it. Lit mags, as they are also called, don’t follow all the conventions of other magazines, but rather have their own rules. 1867, my magazine, follows but challenges some of these. I went for a clean, classy look, but while most lit mags have blank pages with written things, no art nor color, I decided to have both. I think that way the magazine engages with the readers, and guarantees they won’t be tired of reading after a while -because if you are reading page after page after page, a little image here and there is nice to entertain your eyes. But this decision wasn’t made by myself alone, I had the help of some lit mags, such as Elysium (which I have mentioned on my blog) -Elysium incorporates colors and artworks in the pieces’ pages. For my cover I tried to be very artistic, and included no cover lines. This might seem like a challenge to conventions, but actually literary magazines don’t usually have cover lines, which reinforces the idea that all the works inside have equal importance.
The main social group being represented in my magazine is the bohemian, underdog society of writers and artists that exists in our world. We all know the big names -J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks, being them good or bad, but we forget that there is more talent than that in our society. 1867 showcases the work of these writers and artists, getting them by submission, and gives them a voice to yell at the world that “WE MATTER AS WELL”. And because my audience is, hypothetically, adults from middle to upper class, I believe that the message will get across and achieve its goal -which is to make society aware of the underground art world. The magazine itself would rely on subscription -that is made abundantly clear through the lack of cover lines-, since it is made for people committed to the arts. With that being said, distributing it to this audience would be the tricky part, since they are usually strict and picky with what they consume. But, being smart, I would start and focus on where to find them. And where do I find them? Art galleries, concerts, art walks, cinemas, other literary magazines. So the marketing would be made using places where I know for sure I can find the audience I want -and I can have posters, flyers, ads. After that, people will do what people do. It starts with one reader, who presents it to a friend, and a friend of a friend, and next thing I have a chain of people reading 1867 -oh the beauty of mouth to mouth. Isn’t it amazing? Yes, indeed.
But literary magazines are not about the money, and that is what I think, the most beautiful part. Of course, that aspect makes it hard for me, as the (hypothetical) editor in chief of 1867, to make a living out of it, but not to worry. The idea is that I start small and grow. If it doesn’t work, then it can always be a hobby -since it will only be published 4 times a year, anyway. If it hasn’t been clear already, I plan to continue with the production of the magazine. That is why I took this project so seriously -and of course, because I am a good student who likes to do her best, oops. I went after the best software on the market -which I found out to be the Adobe collection. Good thing about Adobe: they have a 30 day free trial for each of their products, so I was able to use it to work on my project. I used Photoshop and Illustrator, plus Audition, which I am using to edit this podcast. Why didn’t I use InDesign. Well… a little backstory. I am an editor in my school’s literary magazine, and we use InDesign to create it, so by the time I started this project, my free trial was already over. Sad, indeed. But it worked out fine with Photoshop and Illustrator. At first it was hard to figure out how to work with them -I was always googling, how to do this, how to do that, how to change the measures of a document -it was painful, really. But I eventually got the hang of it and it’s all flowers and rainbows from there.
Using these products I also grew as a magazine producer. When I first started, a line underneath the title to indicate the section seemed perfect to me, but as I explored the tools I found out the the brush could give me the artsy look I was going for. I learned how to use my space, and that changes are always good, because it means you are recognizing that you’re choices might not have been the best. Also, I was constantly asking my peers for their opinions, help whenever I needed, and just inspiration in general sometimes -because I had to. Before this project I would never ask for people’s opinions on anything, partially for fear of criticism but also pride. But one thing producing this magazine has made me realize is that having support and teamwork is always a key for good producing skills. People can see mistakes on your work that you probably won’t ever see; and most importantly, a magazine’s audience is, regardless of gender, race, sexuality, economic status, people. So asking for opinions is, ultimately, you asking others if your decision sells. Dealing with feedback and criticism is one of the most necessary skills for any person, and I am happy to have learned that.
I just wanna clarify that I have chosen to do a podcast because the magazine is just visuals and visuals and more visuals, and I am a little overwhelmed by visuals. So I’m adding variety and presenting sounds. And I believe that wraps up this creative critical reflection.
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