Hasta La Ideas

Let the mass media say what it will, Newwork Magazine, a large-format biannual publication dedicated to art, design, fashion, culture and politics, proves the ongoing relevance of print yet.

The product of Fashion Institute of Design students Ryotatsu Tanaka, Ryo Kumazaki, Hitomi Ishigaki and Aswin Sadha, the magazine’s latest release marks its fourth issue. The group, who in 2007 formed their own design firm Studio Newwork, oversees all aspects of the magazine’s production, from theme to design layout. On the origins of the magazine, Kumazaki notes, “Since the job as graphic designers is to convey clients’ messages effectively, you hardly see graphic design studios having an opportunity to send their own messages directly. Fortunately through Newwork, we’ve got a chance to send messages purely from us.”

Those messages, printed in striking black and multiple shades of grey on 30-pound newsprint, convey a purity of purpose and an urgency of message that feels always on point. Seeing no borders between the creative fields, the studio freely juxtaposes fashion photography, graphic design and painting, all within a single issue. Issue No. 4, for example, features the work of fashion photographer Albert Watson, German graphic designer and typographer Wolfgang Weingart, as well as Brooklyn-born artist Robert Longo’s foreboding gas mask image (see below). “It’s a natural result of searching for what’s good,” Kumazaki writes. Rather than serve to confuse, this multidisciplinary approach results in a publication rich with optimism for all creative pursuits.

But don’t take our word for it. Visit the magazine’s website where all issues are archived and a list of stockists is available should you need to purchase a back issue. And if a magazine isn’t enough, they’ve designed every layout in Newwork to separate for hanging as an individual art piece. That’s not something you can easily do with the web.

See more images from previous issues after the jump.