Front cover of a portrait format print magazine containing a colourful collage of photos of musical artists, with a logo and typography at the top of the cover.
A colourful collage of musicians for a feature ‘Albums of the Year’ piece makes up the front page of the LR concept issue.

This magazine started as a blog ran by myself and Chris Daunt, and transformed into a concept for a print publication as part of a university project.

In an age of capitalism-driven streaming algorithms and mass-produced throwaway playlists spiralling out of control, I wanted to hit reset; to promote music as a precious, meaningful experience.

Three alternative front cover designs containing various colourful collages of photos.
Imaginations of other covers in the series were devised in order to test the durability of the collage-style artwork.

Through curating existing content and even writing some, an editorial tone was designed to embrace music that drifts towards the weird yet wonderful; the futuristic but now.

A visual identity was developed alongside the editorial tone so that the writing and the graphics worked together harmoniously. I developed a layout and typographic system that would be methodical yet allowed freedom for experimentation.

Inside of a print publication showing the contents page, which features text and images atop a bright yellow and magenta background.
The contents page contains both textual and pictoral formats, providing both structural understanding and recommendations of starting points for the reader.
Two scans of the insides of a print publication showing news articles, featuring text and images.

The bright yellow from the logo forms as a key identifier for the preliminary sections of the magazine, and pairs with the bold magenta to introduce a fun yet contemporary look and feel from the outset.

Paired back heading and body type choices allow the unique display face to shine, adding a bunch of charisma. Playful arrangement of imagery adds chaos to an otherwise rigid grid structure.

Two scans of the insides of a print publication showing a feature article on the albums of the year.
Each feature article possesses its own colour scheme in order to best serve the content, and to differentiate between articles throughout the publication.
Two scans of the insides of a print publication showing a feature interview with Marie Davidson.
I used pullquotes sometimes as large feature pieces, and other times as teasers: cut by the page edge and showing only a provocative part of the quote, drawing in the reader to the main content.
Two scans of the insides of a print publication showing a feature article on the future of the music industry.

68 printed pages in length, Listen responsibly remains a serious proof of concept for a music publication, with a purpose that is only growing more imminent by the year.

Content featured within the graphics on this page – including writing, photos, and some artwork – was taken from various sources including Pitchfork, Crack, Record Culture, and Resident Advisor. All such content is copyright of the original owner and is used here for academic demonstration purposes only, as part of a university coursework project.