Hasta La Ideas

Issue 14 and 15 of ARC

The roots of the Royal College of Art‘s student-run journal, ARC, go back over sixty years. But unless funding for the production of the next issue can be found, it may already have printed its last. So the students have started a Kickstarter campaign and have several great packages on offer to encourage donations…

ARC is a continuation of the RCA’s Ark magazine which ran from 1950-1978 and saw the likes of designers Alan Fletcher and Ray Hawkey, writer Len Deighton, and artists David Hockney and Patrick Caulfield involved in its art direction and design. In 2004, students restarted the magazine as ARC and, since then, the journal has been edited, designed and published entirely by the college’s students with a different team brought in to work on each issue.

The forthcoming edition, archly titled the Death issue, will be the first to be created via Kickstarter. It is being edited by Charmian Griffin, Natalie Ferris, Elizabeth Glickfeld, Sarah Jury and Jamie Sutcliffe, while the designers are Matthew Stuart and Pedro Pina.

“We all work for free: the designers, the editors, every single contributor, even those who are usually better reimbursed for their time,” say the ARC students. “All funds raised here are exclusively for print, packaging and postage.”

Various RCA student magazines, including The Beam (1896), ARK 7 (1953), Ark 13 (1955), ARK 36 (1964). Alan Fletcher worked on Ark 13

While neglected in the 80s and 90s, the magazine has helped launch the careers of many emerging designers who are keen to work with print. “Many of our readers, practicing artists and art students, spend their time in the studio covered in the muck of their medium, not plugged into a laptop, ” say the students. “For them, and for you, and a little bit for tradition, we would like to make something on paper.”

As a further incentive to those willing to donate to the students’ cause, ARC say that “every backer will have their name printed in the magazine. Depending on how much you can pledge, we will also send you the magazine, limited edition posters or works of art.” Contributors can donate upwards of $1 to ARC on Kickstarter here or pre-order ARC 16 for $12 (£7.50 inc p&p). Full details of the students’ plans for the new issue are also listed on the page.

Pledge around the $50 mark and you’ll also receive one of the three posters shown below, along with a copy of the magazine (with your name inside) and an invite to the launch event.

ARC’s own website is rcamagazine.co.uk.

The cover of Ark 46 (Spring 1970), one of three selected for reproduction as a poster by writer Michael Crowe. The actor Alan Rickman also worked on this issue (as a writer). Poster: A1, inkjet, printed at RCA. Please add p&p to your pledge as follows $4.50 (UK), $6 (Europe) or $9 (rest of the world)

Cover depicted by (then recent) RCA graduate Patrick Caulfield. Poster: A1, inkjet, printed at RCA. Please add p&p to your pledge as follows $4.50 (UK), $6 (Europe) or $9 (rest of the world)

The issue this poster depicts, edited by Derek Hyatt, was on colour symbolism and originally sold 3,000 copies in three days. Poster: A1, inkjet, printed at RCA. Please add p&p to your pledge as follows $4.50 (UK), $6 (Europe) or $9 (rest of the world).