gym class magazine #03

2 — G Y M C L A S S M A G A Z I N E

E D I T O R I A L / C O N T E N T S

What do you think of our front cover? It was art directed by JOHN PAUL THURLOW, the guy behind cov-

ers — an online archive of magazine covers, re-imagined by JPT in his unique style. We love the GCM#03

cover he’s created. We love his covers project too. So much so, there’s a Q&A with him starting on

page 4. ¶ From page 10, MICHAEL BOJKOWSKI (you may recall his article on typography in GCM #02)

answers some questions on design and magazines. He’s even created a beaut infographic for us, it’s on

page 13. ¶ There’s also a Q&A with illustrator CHRIS DENT. He’s done some pretty impressive work for

some bona fide blue chip clients. Quite impressive, really. Take a look at his work from page 14. ¶ Re-

peat offender, er, we mean contributor, DANIEL GRAY talks us through modernist architecture and

the Case Study House program on page 18. We’re big-time fans of anything Modernist. Ch-ch-check it.

¶ Breathe. Breathe. We chat with zine guru ALEX ZAMORA on page 24. He’s the editor of DIY power-

house fever zine. He’s an inspiration. Read what he’s got to say. All hail fever zine. Show respect, peeps.

¶ Art attack! We caught up with London graphic designer STEFI ORAZI. She’s created some very cool

work celebrating Modernist architecture. And she lives in the Barbican in Central London! How cool

is that? Very! Plus, Stefi’s given us some badges to give away. The Q&A starts on page 26. Compe-

tition details are on page 22. Exciting! ¶ Oh no. We’re nearing the end. Last, but certainly not least,

we chat with ROB PEART. He’s one half of Zineswap, a resource through which zine creators can swap

their zines with one-another. We’re fans. The Q&A is on page 30. ¶ And that’s it. Thanks to the above con-

tributors. You’re all legends! Without you, GCM wouldn’t be. And thanks, too, to everyone who’s bought a

copy of GCM. You rock! Hope you enjoy this latest offering. Peace out! Oh… I almost forgot. There’s a new

GCM website. It was created by über designer Alasdair Monk. Thanks, man! Check out his website —

alasdairmonk.com — and employ his services; they’re shit-hot! Respect.

GYM CLASS MAGAZINE, A ZINE FOR THE GUY CHOSEN LAST, IS EDITED AND DESIGNED BY STEVEN GREGOR. VISIT GYMCLASSMAGAZINE.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION.GCM #03 GUEST ART DIRECTOR: JOHN PAUL THURLOW — JOHNPAULTHURLOW.BLOGSPOT.COMGYM CLASS MAGAZINE WEBSITE BY: ALASDAIR MONK — ALASDAIRMONK.COM

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 3

What do you think of our front cover? It was art directed by JOHN PAUL THURLOW, the guy behind cov-

ers — an online archive of magazine covers, re-imagined by JPT in his unique style. We love the GCM#03

cover he’s created. We love his covers project too. So much so, there’s a Q&A with him starting on

page 4. ¶ From page 10, MICHAEL BOJKOWSKI (you may recall his article on typography in GCM #02)

answers some questions on design and magazines. He’s even created a beaut infographic for us, it’s on

page 13. ¶ There’s also a Q&A with illustrator CHRIS DENT. He’s done some pretty impressive work for

some bona fide blue chip clients. Quite impressive, really. Take a look at his work from page 14. ¶ Re-

peat offender, er, we mean contributor, DANIEL GRAY talks us through modernist architecture and

the Case Study House program on page 18. We’re big-time fans of anything Modernist. Ch-ch-check it.

¶ Breathe. Breathe. We chat with zine guru ALEX ZAMORA on page 24. He’s the editor of DIY power-

house fever zine. He’s an inspiration. Read what he’s got to say. All hail fever zine. Show respect, peeps.

¶ Art attack! We caught up with London graphic designer STEFI ORAZI. She’s created some very cool

work celebrating Modernist architecture. And she lives in the Barbican in Central London! How cool

is that? Very! Plus, Stefi’s given us some badges to give away. The Q&A starts on page 26. Compe-

tition details are on page 22. Exciting! ¶ Oh no. We’re nearing the end. Last, but certainly not least,

we chat with ROB PEART. He’s one half of Zineswap, a resource through which zine creators can swap

their zines with one-another. We’re fans. The Q&A is on page 30. ¶ And that’s it. Thanks to the above con-

tributors. You’re all legends! Without you, GCM wouldn’t be. And thanks, too, to everyone who’s bought a

copy of GCM. You rock! Hope you enjoy this latest offering. Peace out! Oh… I almost forgot. There’s a new

GCM website. It was created by über designer Alasdair Monk. Thanks, man! Check out his website —

alasdairmonk.com — and employ his services; they’re shit-hot! Respect.

www.

gymclass

magazine

.com

COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP OF ALL MATERIAL REPRODUCED IN THIS ISSUE OF GYM CLASS MAGAZINE BELONGS WITH ITS OWNER. WE’RE NOT INTO STEALING, JUST SHARING.

B U D D H I S TC O V E R S B E G A N I N J A P A N

I N C O N V E R S A T I O N W I T HJ O H N P A U L T H U R L O W , O U R G U E S T A R T D I R E C T O R

T E M P L ESEE ALSO:JOHNPAULTHURLOW.BLOGSPOT.COMTINYURL.COM/COVERSONFLICKR

A R T / M A G A Z I N E S


B U D D H I S TC O V E R S B E G A N I N J A P A N

I W A S O N A R E T R E A T I N A

R E M O T E

T E M P L E

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 5


A R T / M A G A Z I N E S

Greetings and salutations, JPT. Firstly, thanks for art directing this is-

sue’s front cover… we love, love, love it. Secondly, we’re also mighty im-

pressed with the collection of illustrated magazine covers over on your

blog and flickr. Tell us a bit about the project… when/how did it come

about? ¶ covers began in Japan. I was on a retreat living in a remote Bud-

dhist temple. Possibly because of the quiet solitude I started to doodle

the contents of my room. I was attracted to the magazines I’d bought

for the flight. One of them was elle. As I was drawing the idea for covers

just clicked. ¶ Because of how the idea came to me I wanted to see how

far I could extend the initial thought. However making straight copies

felt empty. The second idea in covers was to mix things up by projecting

my thoughts, feelings and personal mythology into the drawings. And

the more I draw the more I find I’m art directing my own covers from

scratch rather than altering others… one constant is the need for a con-

nection between the cover and my life experience — without this I won’t

make a drawing. ¶ I must say I’ve met new people through the project

who’ve introduced me to titles I wasn’t familiar with and subsequently

commissioned covers I otherwise would never have done, all of which

feels great. ¶

We especially love how you alter or deface the covers you draw. You’ve

drawn french model Patrick Petitjean for the cover of this issue of gcm.

But, in your own (very cool!) style, you’ve altered the original picture

by adding some scratches. Talk us through the rationale. ¶ I wanted

to make a drawing that connected with the idea behind the magazine.

By this I’m referring to the strap-line a zine for the guy chosen last. I

daydreamed a young man, maybe still at sixth form, drawing his hero

Patrick Petitjean from the pages of a men’s magazine. I imagined how

this drawing was subsequently defaced by the school bullies who took

offense at the ‘bromantic’ nature of the drawing… and that this attempt

to ruin the artwork unintentionally made it stronger (both it’s look and

the emotional charge)… in this way I felt as if something was added to

the spirit of gym class magazine. ¶ You are correct in saying many of my

drawings include destructive marks. For me it’s not so difficult to create

a polished-looking drawing, but almost every time I do I get to the end

and reject it. Perfection just seems dull to me. I think it’s quite common

for the artistic temperament to be exhilarated by destruction as much as

creation. They are definitely linked for me. I think it ultimately comes

down to my personal definition of beauty vs. merely pretty. Beauty isn’t

dependent on perfection. ¶

You own most of the magazines you draw. You’re obviously a big-time

magazine fan boi. Us too! Of the magazines you own, which one is your

most prized and why? ¶ Possibly vogue September 1990 featuring Jade

MODEL KLARA WEBSTER (ABOVE RIGHT) APPEARED IN A KASINO A4 FASHION SPREAD (ISSUE #4). SHE HAS ExqUISITE BREASTS BUT WAS NOT THE INSPIRATION FOR JPT’S NAKED (SEE: TINYURL.COM/NAKEDLADY)

FOR MORE ON KASINO A4 (WHICH WE LOVE, BTW), CHECK OUT: WEAREKASINO.COM

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 7

Jagger on the cover, which was given to me as a birthday card by a close friend. She added her own marks to it. It’s a

lovely thing to do, and an obvious inspiration. I also have a copy of zoom magazine from 1982, which I found in a second

hand shop, through which I discovered Jean Paul Goude, Deborah Turbeville and Andrjez Zulawski. Because of your

question I just re-read the magazine and noticed it includes an article about an exhibition of the 500 best magazine

covers from around the world. I had totally forgotten that. Subliminal influences no doubt. ¶

Of the covers you’ve drawn, which is your favourite? What makes it your favourite? ¶ If I was forced to make a selec-

tion: cover 27 yacob or cover 51 vogue hommes international mode. ¶ The portrait for cover 27 yacob is the only time I’ve

covered another artist’s drawing — it’s Olimpico Fusco by John Singer Sargent — an artist who’s drawings I hold in high

esteem. yacob magazine is an independent publication with a humanitarian agenda that I was proud to support. This

drawing is my imagined image of Yacob himself. I like the combination of pride and fragility in his expression. ¶ Of the

recent work I really like cover 51 vogue hommes international mode featuring KanYe West. I like the idea of putting him

on the cover of a fashion special edition, these publications always seemed to me to be the last bastions of old school

attitudes to menswear (by this I mean imagery with a clear queer sub text). Mr West seems to enjoy playing with his

image and to genuinely love fashion, so I took that on a few steps. The earrings are inspired by the set design of his live

show with Daft Punk but ended up looking very Pat Butcher. I was happy with that. ¶

We’ve been snooping around flickr and also love your greyscale obscurity set of illustrations. The naked lady in the

illustration called naked (see: www.tinyurl.com/nakedlady)… is she drawn from a model featured in a past issue of

kasino a4 magazine? She looks familiar. ¶ She’s drawn from an ad campaign I think. To be honest I drew that in 2005

and can’t remember the exact source but it was from a magazine. I liked her naked confidence and exquisite breasts,

but I remember thinking she could do with eating a few more pies. ¶

Thanks for your time, JPT. You’re a S-T-A-R!

COVE

R 27


Rock Hudson (born 1925 — died 1985) was an American

film and television actor, recognised as a romantic

leading man during the 1960s and 1970s, most nota-

bly in several comedies with his most famous co-star,

Doris Day. Hudson was voted ‘Star of the Year’, ‘Fa-

vorite Leading Man’, and similar titles by numerous

movie magazines and was unquestionably one of the

most popular and well-known movie stars of the time.

He completed nearly 70 motion pictures and starred

in several television productions during a career that

spanned over four decades. Hudson was also one of the

first major Hollywood celebrities to die from an AIDS

related illness. ¶ Rock was good friends with American

novelist Armistead Maupin. In Maupin’s further tales

of the city, Michael Tolliver links up with a closeted ma-

cho icon referred to as Blank Blank, which has been in-

terpreted as a thinly disguised caricature of Hudson.

Maupin claimed after Hudson’s death that he changed

details to avoid the character being recognised as Hud-

son.

—tinyurl.com/wikirockhudson

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R 51

COVE

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V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 9

C O V E R S B Y J O H N P A U L T H U R L O W

COVE

R 50

COVE

R 48

1 0 — G Y M C L A S S M A G A Z I N E

M A G A Z I N E S / D E S I G N

I S T H E M A N

B O J K O W S K I

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 1 1

Big up, Michael. How are things? ¶ Big up ‘yoself Steven and don’t you

mean ‘tings’? :P ¶

You is right, you is. We do mean ‘tings’. Thanks for the lovely info-

graphic we’ve placed on the next spread. Space is cool. Are you a sci-fi

kinda guy? ¶ Space is the Place. Do you believe in aliens? ¶

Like, yeah. Aliens exist and they rock! Well, maybe not the Sigourney

Weaver kind. But the et kind are über. ¶ I was listening to some promi-

nent English ‘science guy’ in a guardian podcast discuss the possibility of

life on other planets — hang on, I’ll look him up… blimey, it was Astrono-

mer Royale, Martin Rees — anyhoo, he seemed to think that, mathemati-

cally it was highly probable but I got the impression that he would only

really believe it if he saw an actual alien… possibly waving at him through

his ginormous telescope. ¶

You worked on the new UK esquire magazine website and blog. How

do you see magazines and the internet getting on in the future? ¶ Oo,

crumbs. I know how I’d like them to interact with each other. I’d like

more luverly cover image galleries and regular sneak previews on forth

coming content thanks. What I can see happening is some magazines

supplanting their physical paper bound embodiments with more on-

line content. It’s happened at good magazine where they slashed their

publishing schedule and ramped up their blogging. Loads of magazines

are having to cut their print costs to make up for a lack in advertising,

stalwart i-d are down to six issues a year. I think wired will start to tip

the scales as their print edition gets slimmer and slimmer yet their on-

line content remains as popular as ever. Most recently new comer, buck

magazine semi-imploded and scrapped their print edition completely.

So, for now online is starting to push print’s fist down towards the table

as their long-running ‘arm wrestle’ continues unabated. ¶

I N C O N V E R S A T I O N W I T HM I C H A E L B O J K O W S K I , D E S I G N R O Y A L T Y

What’s your all-time favourite magazine and which current maga-

zine do you most look forward to (apart from gcm, of course)? ¶ Gosh.

It’s something us maglophiles have discussed on sites like magculture

before. It usually comes down to ‘eras’, like I’m a big big fan of Stephen

Male era i-d magazine (so late 80s/early 90s). One of the many nice

things about magazines is that they are a product of a team of people and

when you get the right combination, I reckon that’s when a magazine be-

comes great. At the mo I’m hanging out for the next apartamento, little

white lies and i.d. but that changes from week to week. ¶

How does the Australian design scene compare to that of the UK?

Does each have a distinct style or are design trends global nowadays?

¶ Australian graphic design has always followed the UK’s lead which

makes sense considering that Anglo-Saxon Australia was ‘installed’ by

the British. I actually don’t think that’s such a bad thing because it gives

Australia a much needed link to Europe in general. Having said that,

some agencies’ style may be influenced by the UK but business structures

are vastly different. Australian business has fully embraced ‘marketing

over creativity’ so a lot of designers find themselves having to manoeuvre

around the term ‘Graphic Design’ and repackage it in a myriad of ways.

There’s also a rather messy and self-indulgent line in ‘creative design’

being pushed by Aussie sites like design is kinky, and lost in e minor and

mags like wooden toy, king brown and desktop that leaves me particularly

cold. Where’s Alex Stitt when you need him? ¶

You’re working on a new print-on-demand publication at the mo-

ment. We’ve checked out the sneak-peek on your blog… looks fab.

What can you tell us about it? ¶ lineread is a continuation of my per-

sonal publishing experiments, investigating what happens when you

take something that lives online and put it into print. I’m hoping to use

Hewlett Packard’s new P.O.D. venture, MagCloud to host lineread. It

should be available in the next month or so. I also wanted to expand the

linefeed ‘brand’ (er, I hate using that word. Makes me feel sort of dirty…

and not in a good way). linefeed now has lineout as a depository for any

video content (via Vimeo) and plans are afoot for linefeed branded prod-

ucts using a typeface I developed for the site called ‘Rhodia’. Though, as

with anything I take on as a self-initiated project, progress is slow. We’re

talking glacial. ¶

Hang tight, peep. lovin’ your work. ¶ Cheers. I hope that’s not too

waffly. Please feel free to cut it down if you need to. Maybe you should

keep this bit in though. I don’t know why. Is it interesting? Probably not.

If there’s anything else you need just hollah. And… yay gym class maga-

zine!!!!!!!! Bye.


M A G A Z I N E S / D E S I G N

SEE ALSO:LINEFEED.PRESSPUBLISH.INFOVIMEO.COM/LINEOUTTWITTER.COM/BOJKOWSKIFLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/MOOSKI

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 1 3

I N F O G R A P H I C B Y M I C H A E L B O J K O W S K I


I L L U S T R A T I O N

Hey Chris, thanks for chatting with us. You’ve got an impressive portfolio going on. We love your drawings of alpha

cities and built environments. What’s you’re favourite city to draw and why? ¶ My favourite city would have to be New

York City followed closely by Chicago, there’s something very special about NY for me. Even back at school I remember

being inspired by books or photo’s I had seen of NYC. I think as I grew up the relation between music (Hip Hop), street

culture and art drew parallels with the city, which has made it feel like a familiar place. ¶

You’re based in london, but are you from here? What’s your back-story? ¶ I actually grew up in Hertfordshire, which is

directly above North London. A great place to grow up as a kid, I always saw it as having the best of both worlds with the

countryside on my doorstep and the city a 30 minute ride away. As a kid I was obsessed with two things, drawing and

football (soccer). I used to play for Tottenham Hotspur as a kid and I thought that playing football would be my future.

But it was only in my late teens, once I had started at Central St Martins, that I knew that art would be my career. ¶

You’ve worked with some big-time clients, including wallpaper* and new york magazines. We’re real magazine junk-

ies here at gcm world HQ. What’s your favourite magazine and what magazine would you most like to have on

your client list? ¶ I can relate to being a magazine junkie, I have them everywhere! Well… I have always been an ad-

C H R I S D E N TI N C O N V E R S A T I O N W I T H

H E ’ S R E A L L Y G O O D A T D R A W I N G

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 1 5

mirer of wallpaper* it was a nice feeling when I saw my

work in wallpaper* for the first time while I was out in

NY last year. From a slightly different perspective mass

appeal would answer both your questions. It’s sad they

are no longer going. It would have been amazing to have

had some work featured with them. I have just finished a

piece for time magazine, which is a great client to have. ¶

Have you travelled to all the cities you’ve drawn or do

you work mostly from photographs? ¶ I would love to

be able to travel to all the cities I draw, even though I pre-

fer to draw from photographs. I like to get the feel of the

location. It normally has an affect on my work. It’s some-

thing which I feel quite strongly about. I have a project

based on Tokyo which I am desperate to start but I won’t

allow myself before I have travelled there. Hopefully not

long until that happens. I often travel to the US where I

have gathered a lot of research. ¶

Drawing all these cities must whet your appetite for

travel. We’re big city kinda guys here at gcm. If you

could get on a plane now and fly anywhere, where

would you go? ¶ Well that would either be New York or

Tokyo. NY is a place I love to be — great inspiration, food

and friends. Tokyo, as I am desperate to explore their cul-

ture and finally start that much awaited project.

SEE ALSO: CHRISDENT.CO.UKTINYURL.COM/CHRISDENTFLICKR

C H R I S D E N T


I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y C H R I S D E N T

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 1 7

M A D M E NI T ’ S A L L V E R Y

G R A N D D E S I G N S

A R C H I T E C T U R E


V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 1 9

M A D M E NG R A N D D E S I G N S

M E E T S

B Y D A N I E L G R A Y

SEE ALSO:BINKYTHEDOORMAT.COMARTSANDARCHITECTURE.COMTINYURL.COM/STAHLHOUSEINMOVIES

DANIEL GRAY TALKS US THROUGH THE CASE STUDY HOUSE PROGRAM AND ARTS & ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE’S qUEST TO CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE. GROOVY.


A R C H I T E C T U R E

I T ’ S A L L T A T E M O D E R N ’ S F A U L T . During a recent visit, I was following my usual gal-

lery–stalking pattern: spend a while wandering around the art, spend absolutely bloody ages wandering around the

bookshop. Whilst browsing though the various printed goodies on display (and trying to justify the purchase of yet

another canvas bag) I came across two large cardboard boxes filled to the brim with copies of arts & architecture

magazine. Every issue, from 1945 to 1954, reprinted by Taschen and boxed and lovely and… and… now I’m obsessed.

¶ Individually, the magazines are something to behold, from the editorial features and architectural plans right down

to the adverts — to simplify it enormously, it’s all very mad men meets grand designs. What really captured my attention

though is that, as a collection, a bigger picture emerges: arts & architecture was trying to change the way we lived. ¶

“Because most opinion, both profound and light-headed, in terms of post war housing is nothing but speculation in the

form of talk and reams of paper, it occurs to us that it might be a good idea to get down to cases and at least make a

beginning in the gathering of that mass of material that must eventually result in what we know as “house–post war.”

¶ Flicking through the pages, the passion of editor John Entenza quickly becomes evident. Responding to a period of

national housing shortages, Entenza transformed arts & architecture from a document of cutting edge architectural

design to a driving force behind it. In 1945 the magazine initiated the Case Study House program; its aim to produce

low-cost, experimental modern prototypes of houses to act as templates for the coming housing boom. ¶ Over 21 years,

36 designs were commissioned (although only 26 were actually built, mostly in California) from the likes of Richard

Neutra, Pierre Koenig, and Charles and Ray Eames (who were so happy with their effort they ended up living in it them-

selves. Them and all their lovely furniture). Designers were given the freedom to experiment and push the boundaries

of accepted architectural conventions, although given the nature of the new technologies, donated materials and re-

straints of the local climate, all the houses followed a certain trend. Angular, open-plan compositions of glass and steel

were dominant, with pools and gardens forming integral parts of the living space. Probably the most iconic building of

the program is the Stahl House, a reductive L–shape surrounding a pool area, overlooking Los Angeles. It’s still open

to the public today — a quick search on flickr will bring up lots of grinning design tourists wandering about that small,

amazing space. ¶ The program ran until 1966, and proved hugely influential on a new era of American architecture. The

houses that remain are living, three–dimensional embodiments of International Style modernism, and the big box of

reprinted arts & architecture (with another box, 1955–1967, to follow later this year) is a breathtaking document of the

optimism of post-war design. Plus it’s really, really heavy. ¶ Of course, what I need to do now is actually buy that big box.

And I need to fly over to LA to visit as many of the houses as I can. And then, once I’ve found a particularly Californian

corner of the Yorkshire Dales, I need to rebuild one over here (preferably under the watchful eye of Kevin McCloud). I

need to know more. ¶ Sometimes popping into the Tate Modern bookshop can be awfully costly.

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 2 1

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I C O N

D O N A L D D R A P E R

Donald “Don” Draper, born Richard “Dick” Whitman, is

a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC’s tel-

evision series mad men. He is portrayed by 2008 Gold-

en Globe winner Jon Hamm. Don is the creative di-

rector of the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. ¶ In

many respects Draper is typical of an American middle

class male who existed in Post-World War II America.

¶ Draper appears to be one of the very few males (per-

haps the only male) at Sterling Cooper that does not en-

gage in conversations that are about sex and conquests.

Even the secretly gay Salvatore talks about sexy girls

and sexy models, beginning in the first episode. Salva-

tore tells Draper that he does not really want to go to

Pete’s bachelor party in a group because he’d “rather be

alone (with a girl) so he could do something.” ¶ In fact,

Draper keeps his extramarital affairs to himself in order

to protect his wife’s honor.

—tinyurl.com/wikidondraper

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W I N !

Have you subscribed to the new gym class magazine email

newsletter? If not, stop by the website and sign up. It’s

super quick and easy. And it’s free! Plus, if you subscribe

by Friday 14 August 2009, you’ll automatically go into

the draw to win a pack of Stefi Orazi’s Purist palette

badges inspired by Le Corbusier. There are three badg-

es per pack, and 10 packs in total to win. They’re courte-

sy of Stefi! Nice one! ¶ Le Corbusier was a Swiss/French

architect and one of the founders of modernist architec-

ture. We’re fans. ¶ Of course, the black and white pho-

tograph above doesn’t do Stefi’s badges much justice.

There’s a colour photo over on the gym class magazine

website, stop by and take a look. And subscribe to the

new email newsletter while you’re there. Good luck! ¶

For more information about the gym class magazine email

newsletter, check out the About page on the website. ¶

And for more information about Stefi and her work,

check out the Q&A beginning on page 26. In fact, while

you’re at it, stop by Stefi’s website… there’s lots of love-

ly pictures of her graphic design work to look at… and

there’s her online shop full of beautiful things for you to

buy. Ker-ching!

—gymclassmagazine.com

—stefiorazi.co.uk

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 2 3

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L A N D M A R K

C H A T E A U M A R M O N T

The Chateau Marmont is a hotel at 8221 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, built in 1927, and modelled

loosely after the Château d’Amboise, in France’s Loire Valley. It has served as the backdrop for a number of events

in the lives of well-known rock stars and actors. ¶ The Chateau Marmont opened in February 1929 as an apartment

house, but high rents and the Depression kept renters away. In 1931 the building was changed to a hotel. The hotel

was bought in 1990 and is currently owned and managed by Hotels AB, run by celebrity hotelier Andre Balazs. ¶ The

Chateau Marmont was designed and constructed as earthquake proof, and has survived major earthquakes in 1933,

1953, 1971, 1987 and 1994, without sustaining any major structural damage. Nine cottages were built in the 1930s,

next to the hotel, which were acquired by the hotel in the 1940s. Two of the four bungalows at the Chateau Marmont

were designed by Craig Ellwood, in 1956, after he completed his Case Study Houses. The bungalows are like minia-

ture Case Study Houses.

—www.tinyurl.com/chateaumarmontwiki


Z I N E S — P A R T O N E

Hey Alex, tell me a little about fever zine’s back story.

How long has it been around and where did the origi-

nal idea/concept come from? ¶ fever zine was conceived

back in late 2006. I’d been toying with the idea of making

my own zine for at least a year. I’m a journalist by trade

and over the years I’ve spent a lot of time listening to edi-

tors reject good ideas because the subject matter wasn’t

trendy, young or pretty enough. It was frustrating and a

catalyst to start something of my own, even if it wasn’t

as glossy, or as nicely printed as the mags I used to work

with. ¶ So, in early 2006 I created a zine full of those topi-

cal barometers you tend to see in magazines. I called it

‘Barometer’ and put it on sale at zine hotspot Lik + Neon

in East London. I printed five and sold four in a short

space of time and the owner put the last one in her zine

archive. It was a minor personal triumph and showed

me that people were interested in stuff I could produce,

even if it was designed on Microsoft Word, unstapled and

printed on my ageing, black and white laser printer. It

gave me the push to create fever zine. ¶

How much of fever zine’s content do you generate and

how much comes from other contributors? ¶ I tend to

commission most of the content, although some is sug-

gested by contributors. Our designer Simon also helps

out with commissioning some of the illustrators. Con-

tent-wise, I have a certain idea about the kind of stuff

which should feature in fever zine, at least for now. It’s

still in its infancy and needs to develop a bit more before I

loosen the reins. I see it as a highly personal project so in

some ways it reflects a lot of my personal tastes. ¶

fever zine is a real inspiration for us here at gcm world

HQ. Do you have a favourite zine or magazine? If so,

what do you like about it? Which zines/magazines in-

spire you? ¶ I don’t have favourites anymore. I still

search for amazing new mags and zines, but rarely fall in

love with them. I used to love mags like flaunt, flux, fad-

er and neo2, but I’ve fallen out of touch with them. Some

of them have changed too much and others I’ve just not

seen around. I really like swindle, monocle, specialten and

icon right now, as well as extinct mags like the face. I re-

ally miss the face actually. When I started reading it, in

the late 90s, it was miles more fun and interesting than

its rivals. the face’s covers were iconic and everyone has

a favourite. The same just can’t be said about the other

style rags. It was one of a kind. ¶

How come you print the cover on pink paper? ¶ When I

started thinking about fever I thought it would look nice,

rather than printing solely on white paper. I thought it

looked like an attractive combination: a pink cover hid-

ing white paper and black ink. It’s not quite the financial

times, or butt magazine, but people seem to love it. ¶

fever zine is a star on the indie DIY zine scene. A real

champion of lo-fi culture. How do you see the zine de-

veloping? How many more issues do you feel you have

up your sleeve? ¶ Well I see it developing digitally pri-

marily. Its social networks on MySpace, Facebook and

Twitter are growing daily and with the influx of peo-

ple comes an influx of new creative folk to collaborate

with (along with established contributors of course).

They will undoubtedly influence content and visuals. In

terms of the future, fever zine will keep on improving, in

content, design and production. And as long as I’ve got

enough inspiring stuff to cover there’ll always be a new

issue coming out. ¶

You’re pretty big on the London zine fair circuit. Are

there any zine fairs or festivals around the world you’d

like to check out? ¶ I’d love to check out all the zine fairs

in the UK first. I’ve been meaning to get to the ones in

Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow for ages, but there’s

always something which gets in the way. Globally there

are tonnes of zine fairs which receive little or no public-

ity; it’d be great to visit those ones and check out their

local zines.

SEE ALSO:SIMONWHYBRAY.COM/FEVERZINEMYSPACE.COM/FEVERZINEFLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/FEVERZINETWITTER.COM/FEVERZINE

P R E T T Y I N P I N K

E D I T O R O F F E V E R Z I N EA L E x Z A M O R A ,

I N C O N V E R S A T I O N W I T H

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 2 5

A R T

S T E F I O R A Z I I S A G R A P H I C D E S I G N E R A N D L I V E S I N T H E B A R B I C A N


Hey stefi, we’ve had a nosey around your website and, I have to say, we love your work. In particular, we’re big-time

fan boys for your cards and prints. In fact, we bought a couple of packs of your modernist london (winder edition)

cards to send as Christmas cards last year… they were a big hit. Love them. How did this project come about and

how did you decide on the London icons to feature? ¶ I’ve been doing illustrations of the Barbican, where I live, for

some time now. A couple of years ago I produced a limited edition set of barbican christmas cards, just 100 packs. I was

amazed at how popular they were. The modernist london set was a natural progression. Basically they are buildings that

I love. Luckily other people seem to like them too! ¶

We love London’s Barbican complex… it’s so very cool. You created some greeting cards to coincide with an exhibition

at the Barbican Art Gallery celebrating the work of famed Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. Did the good folk at

the Barbican ask you to create the cards? ¶ No, I much prefer coming up with the idea myself than being commis-

sioned — that way I get complete freedom to do what I want, although there’s always the risk that they might flop.

The le corbusier cards were a bit of an excuse for a jolly to France to see the great man’s work in person. Luckily the

Barbican Gallery and a few other shops agreed to take my cards, and they are selling pretty well. ¶

Oh yeah, and how much do we love the le corbusier purist palette button badges you’ve created? Like… ttt – hhh – iii –

sss much! And that’s a lot! How about gym class magazine buys a pack from you to give away as a competition prize in

this issue? What do you think? ¶ Thanks! Yeah, sure, you can have ten packs. Gratis. ¶

S T E F I O R A Z I I S A G R A P H I C D E S I G N E R A N D L I V E S I N T H E B A R B I C A N

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 2 7

A R T

See page

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Thanks! You rock. You’ve also created three cool silkscreen prints… of Milton Court, Golden Lane Estate and, more

recently, BT Tower. Do you do the silk-screening yourself? ¶ I work with a company called K2 Screen, in Clerkenwell

in London. They know what they are doing. ¶

Are you an architecture fan? Do you have a favourite architect? ¶ As I mentioned, I live in the Barbican; I’ve lived here

for twelve years; every morning I wake up to its amazing architecture. Its impossible not to think what a fantastic place

it is, and how something like this would never be built now. I don’t have a favourite architect per se, just buildings I

really like; I’m working on new illustrations of these as we speak. Watch this space. ¶

So far your cards and prints have focused on London icons. What about other architectural landmarks… like the

Empire State Building in NYC, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, or perhaps the Sydney Opera House in, er,

Sydney? ¶ That’s a great idea, but I’m not sure I can afford to jet to the other side of the world to do the research, so I

might need to stick to places a little closer to home — for now anyhow. ¶

Thanks for your time, Stefi. You’re a star! ¶ You’re welcome, thank you.

A R T

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V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 2 9

The Barbican is a residential estate in the City of Lon-

don. It also contains, or is adjacent to, the Barbican Arts

Centre, the Museum of London, the Guildhall School

of Music and Drama, the Barbican Public Library, the

City of London School for Girls and a YMCA. ¶ The es-

tate consists of 13 terrace blocks, grouped around a lake

and green squares. The main buildings rise up to sev-

en floors above a podium level, which links all the facili-

ties in the Barbican providing a pedestrian route above

street level. Some maisonettes are built into the podium

structure. There is no vehicular access within the estate.

¶ The estate also contains three of London’s tallest res-

idential towers, at 42 storeys and 123 metres (404 ft)

high. The top two or three floors of each block comprise

three penthouse flats.

—tinyurl.com/wikibarbican

B A R B I C A N

L A N D M A R K

SEE ALSO: STEFIORAZI.CO.UK

GREA

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Z I N E S W A P N E E D S Y O UI N C O N V E R S A T I O N W I T H R O B P E A R T , O N E H A L F O F Z I N E S W A P

SEE ALSO: ZINESWAP.COM


Z I N E S — P A R T T W O

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E # 0 3 — 3 1

Y O U

Greetings Rob… what is Zineswap and who’s idea was it/how did it come about? ¶ HELLO. It was

talked about between us (Rob Peart and Gordon Armstrong) for a while a few years back when we were

at uni. It started from a general interest in zines and how to get hold of stuff, distro etc, and of course a

nice way to get free zines! We’d both been into DIY things for years, putting on bands, being in bands

etc etc, and this kind of followed on from that mindset. ¶

How many different zines do you have in the Zineswap archive? ¶ Something like 150. More coming

in every day! We have been away for a while, and when we got back there was a huge pile waiting! ¶

How/where do you store the zines? I’m imagining a secure climate-controlled bunker… kinda like

the room within which the London College of Communication keeps the Stanley Kubrick Archive…

or maybe something less formal. ¶ Haha! Yeah right. They’re under my bed… migrating to a filing

cabinet soon. ¶

Of the zines you’ve received, do you have any favourites? Or do any jump to mind as being particular-

ly interesting or unique? ¶ I think it’s unfair to talk in terms of particular zines (although there are some

we really love). I think the most amazing thing really is how diverse they all are. They all work extremely

well as a library that you can dip in and out of, each one helping to give the others a particular signifi-

cance. Our favourites are only favourites because they work so well in conjunction with all the other

zines. For example, there may be a really well written, über-intellectual, conceptual zine about philoso-

phy, and next to that sits a totally punk teenage zine on skateboarding, beautiful for it’s innocence and

naivety (in a good way). When you see the two together, they cement each others place in the archive.

WE SUBMITTED GCM #01 TO ZINESWAP AND GOT A COPY OF HUSTLE LONDON IN RETURN — NICE ONE

PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEVEN GREGOR

T H A N K S F O R R E A D I N G . Y O U R O C K .

gym class magazine #03

Documents

cover hes

impressive work

copy of gcm

gcm wouldnt

new gcm website

modernist architecture

cool work

s s u e