Reprobate: Stefan Naudé is editor at large and art director at The Lake magazine. (Jacqui van Staden)
Print is not dead. It is just collectable now. Publications have become desirable to archive: collectable omnibuses documenting subgenres and their integrational patterns. Most likely magazine pages will soon be taken as a form of currency, like in that postapocalyptic movie with a gilled Kevin Costner in it. These subgenres should all be closely observed so we can secretly sell all data to the government for loads of money to fund a lavish island lifestyle in our old age.
Over the past 15 years, I have worked on quite a few mainstream and independent publications. I have had the dubious privilege of experiencing the death of the print industry first hand. It suffered a silent and deadly demise. In some ways what is left is almost zombie-like.
The majority of the publications I worked on as an editor and layout artist were similar in the sense that they were mostly about reprobates or characters finding themselves on the fringe of society. I lived in those times with those crazy people so, in many ways, these publications became scrapbook albums documenting my own life in one way or another.
Being exposed to and having to choose between so many incredible images sometimes leaves you divided. In the end, it just comes down to being guided by composition and feelings of nostalgia. That sounds so dramatic. I bet many readers are conjuring their own nostalgic compositions right now.
That being said, I like to keep things minimal, to invite the viewer into their whispers but to allow the images to speak for themselves. When it comes to layout, everything should be viewed as an object and moved accordingly. Each object has a certain weight and determines the balanced ratio of the page.
I’m a strict believer in the early mysticism of Bauhaus, an arcane and enigmatic force that is derived from the balance of positive and negative space. Understanding a few of these magical spells does help along the way. But I’m careful not to go too far at the risk of ending up being a Futurist. Going down that road is something best to be avoided.
I would not advise it as it could potentially lead to addictive habits and Dadaism. Dadaism is a form of art that has been miserably misinterpreted in the art world over the years. I am going way off the topic now but it has meaning to me so I decided to share.