XPLICIT Collaborative Art Magazine

Bianca Trihenea – A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning

Collaborators: Prisha Guha – Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design and A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning; Sutton Theodore – School of Music, Theatre & Dance and Ross School of Business; Sophia Strasburg – Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design

Bringing Xplicit Magazine to fruition will entail a combination of creative proficiencies and networking skills. The interdisciplinary nature of this production stems from the synthesis of art, journalism, and general project management skills. Besides digital expertise in apps such as InDesign and Illustrator, experience with product design and development will ensure an aesthetically pleasing and high-quality final product.

The compilation of artworks will be accompanied by interviews and photographs, meant to convey raw and authentic portrayals of the creators. The publication will be promoted through advertising posters and a release party celebrating the artists’ efforts.

Since all of the members have some form of artistic background, the editorial work will come naturally. We can evenly collaborate on collaging the submitted work. The loose-bounded general artistic direction will be aided by our diverse visions.

The business logistics will also be split. Having met in a business class, we are exercising project management, with Prisha handling communications, Bianca handling funding, Sutton handling promotion and advertisement, and Sophia handling journalism and photography backed by her yearbook experience.

The arts take centerstage in Xplicit Magazine, not only within its content but in the way the magazine format is reinvented and the rules are broken. Our personal curating and organization of the collaged pages will display our different personalities in an organic manner. With the promotional field of art becoming more and more digitized, we hope to acknowledge the community with the novelty of a physical printed object.

With funding, our group will not have to resort to printing advertisements and focus purely on delivering a product of passion. Our final deadline urged on by our business class ALA223 for delivering the printed product is March 7th, so we will be moving swiftly.

The first order of business on the timeline is publicizing our efforts, for which we have begun hanging posters and networking with our artistic peers for submissions. The next and current step is securing funding which will go solely toward printing efforts. What follows is the steady compilation and collaging of the content to be featured. Once the bulk of submissions is in, we will be photographing and interviewing candidates towards the end of February, and finalizing the content by March 1st, allowing a week for the printing of the physical product.

The inclusion of majors outside of Stamps will shed light onto artists otherwise unknown and excluded from the North Campus art circle. The product is meant to celebrate the wonderfully diverse creators at the University of Michigan. In addition, there are students who will never set foot on North Campus who have no clue nor any connection to the work we are doing. This magazine is a vessel for publicizing our work to the rest of campus. With guidance from Dr. Fretz, our group has the organization and dedication to deliver a meaningful product.