Other
Collective
Other Collective is a student-run platform dismantling orientalist media perspectives based in Davis, CA. Other Collective highlights the issues, culture and experiences of South Asian, South West Asian and North African communities and their respective diasporas. It seeks to dismantle distorted media portrayals of these communities and reject unrepresentative boxed categories of these identities.
Working as Other Collectives Design Editor as well as co-founding the initiative in early 2018, I was tasked with compiling and designing, cover to cover, the platforms magazine issues. Issue I, which was released in Spring 2018, served as the foundation for our platform. During our Magazine Launch Party, the magazine received pure and amazing feedback for its content and design.
My design approach was simple here — include the platforms branding colors (teal and gray accents), and compile a simply constructed magazine. This being the first time around and waiting for writers to complete their work, I only had 1.5 weeks to send it off to print. Looking back, Issue I embodies the very eager and young spirit of the newly established platform — it is simple, delicate and light in design and is juxtaposed with the very though-provoking articles.
Going onto the next issue, which was released in January 2020, I wanted the magazine to truly envelop and embody its theme — “Displacement”.
Issue II’s design revolves around it’s theme — the displacement of people, culture, and identity alike. I intended to convey that by consistently displacing text across the magazine, by extending text across the spreads, breaking pieces of titles, and inserting text in seemingly random places.
I feel that Other Collective’s second issue reflects exactly its growth: it is more elevated, more matured than before. In contrast, Issue I was a simple foundation to the creativity that would flow in later issues. The Displacement Issue embodies the platforms’, writers, and boards growth respectively.
