Roberto Aarnio | Editorial

Grafia, a monthly magazine of the Finnish graphic designers’ guild. We got the exciting opportunity to create editorial work encompassing the cover design as well as the centrepiece. The issue’s main theme was what happens after graduating as a graphic designer, observed from the perspective of students and recently graduated alumni. We conducted a few interviews and featured some of their work on the spreads. The issue was produced as a collaboration between: Christoffer Sohlberg, Jesse Tielinen, Nea Kivelä, Jenni Väre, Timo Bontenbal & Roberto Aarnio.

Visual Direction

The visual style of the special issue was inspired by paper printing glitches and ink stains that can happen during unintended use of a copier or an equivalent machine. This effect was chosen because every member of the group who was involved with the process was specialised in graphic design printing techniques. The effect was a sort of comical hommage to the specialised focus. The treatment of the body copy was important to keep playful for the issue and to play with the idea of misalignment. Through this misalignment, we were able to introduce a sufficient amount of white space to keep the information obtainable and the issue interesting to read through. The large scale of the quote marks became one of the main features we used throughout the layout and delivered a punch to the visibility of the quotes.

Portraits

The main imagery we used consisted of silhouette portraits and some shredded paper bits that were scattered around the editorial pieces’ pages. We wanted the interviews to feel more special than the rest of the images, because the focus was on the people and their individual stories; therefore, we were inspired by Andy Warhol's linework on top of the portraits. We were careful, however, to introduce these lines in a way that did not lose recognisability of the persons in question. We felt that working with silhouette photography would serve as an interesting and extraordinary perspective to include, rather than any other.