With an opportunity to show work in Juxtapoz, we wanted to showcase the mix of exciting e and relevant work happening at PNCA’s BFA programs in graphic design and illustration.

CONTEXT AND CHALLENGE

Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine was created to both help define and celebrate urban alternative and underground contemporary art. Launched with the mission of connecting modern genres like psychedelic and hot rod art, graffiti, street art, and illustration, to the context of broader more historically recognized genres of art like Pop, assemblage, old master painting, and conceptual art, the magazine was founded on belief in the virtues of west coast pop culture and freedom from the conventions of the "established" New York City art world. Readers will discover a mix of the accessibility of “lowbrow art” with serious craftsmanship in folks featured in its pages.

This focus fits with the vision and values of the design program at PNCA, which endeavors to break expectations of what design can be and do, and create spaces for expansive and experimental processes to yield exciting results that work.

SOLUTION

In the ad designs, we wanted to show, rather than tell, this story, so the text is minimal…it simply lists the programs. We highlighted the energy of the design program with an explosive layout based on grids that can be broken. We alternated ad space with illustration work that flooded the spread and simply credited the artist, giving the reader a place to rest.

The editor and publisher called our program a “hidden gem,” exactly the kind of content they want to feature in their editorial work. Later that year, they published a short feature on one of our graduating seniors, Alicia Vidal, and her thesis work.