Underline highlights 'community of collaborators' in Issue 12 of Wayward Arts Magazine

Over the course of 12 issues, design firms from across Canada have shared their perspectives on the theme of 'Community' with Wayward Arts Magazine. For the last issue of the Community series, Toronto's Underline Studio chose to explore the concept from their perspective as designers.

"When asked to design an issue on this theme, we knew immediately we wanted to focus on the community we belong to as designers," says Partner at Underline Fidel Pena RGD. "The collaborators highlighted in this project have been our greatest influences and inspiration over the years with their artwork, photography, illustrations, writing and poetry."

The 'Underneath' issue presents a collection of projects created through collaboration and discovery, described in the opening pages as "the unfolding journey - the unforeseen moments, large and small, that happen along the way." Fidel explains that the goal of this issue is to reveal the design process and showcase the relationships that make good work possible.

In terms of the design of the piece, tip-ins highlight the text and the list of contributors, and copper foil stamping is used throughout the issue to emphasize the different collaborators' names which appear on each page.

"The biggest challenge we encountered was figuring out how to properly represent our community," says Fidel. The approach they chose involved combining a variety of different projects into a single piece. "This became a great exercise in pacing and editing different types of content and visuals to make a cohesive whole. We created four process shots: three of our own projects plus one of our personal notebooks and ephemera with the help of photographer Angus Fergusson."

In the process of collecting and photographing the materials that directly inform their work, the team at Underline identified common themes in their influences and sources of inspiration. "We hope that this issue does justice to the work of our collaborators and that it gives people a glimpse of what the design process involves - both its discoveries and results."

About Wayward Arts
Wayward Arts is a monthly publication printed by Flash Reproductions, with paper provided by Unisource Canada in conjunction with their mill suppliers. A different design firm is invited to curate each issue, changing the design, layout, colours, mood and paper to reflect their interpretation of the year’s over-arching theme.