Estilo from DSType.

a small kernel of wisdom from John’s day job…

As the design and editing of issue nine of Four Minutes to Midnight slowly (but frantically) rolls along, I’ve decided to revamp this website using WordPress, hopefully making it easier to manage in the future. As time allows, I’ll be updating it with content (both new and old), links to previous issues and goodies, so please keep your browsers pointed here.

Issue nine will be out just in time for expozine and it’s going to be chock full of interesting work from a wide variety of contributors. We’re really excited about the issue and hope it will exceed your expectations.

LOKi design is the creative studio of Montreal-based graphic designer and art director Kevin Yuen Kit Lo. The studio was founded in 2001 in response to the reissuing of the First Things First Manifesto out of a desire to explore alternative approaches to design practice. Coupling intensive design research with a commitment to progressive social objectives and values, LOKi design creates work that seeks to bridge the gap between art and activism. The studio also diligently maintains a traditional graphic design practice, crafting useful and attractive pieces of communication at affordable prices.

Kevin studied graphic design at Concordia University and Post St-Joost (NL) before completing his Masters degree at the London College of Communication. He has previously worked as an interactive art director at the Montréal agencies Sid Lee, Bluesponge, and Cossette. He currently teaches typography and graphic design at Concordia University.

Download his cv here, a selected portfolio of work here, or feel free to contact him, at which point, he promises to stop referring to himself in the third person.

Four Minutes to Midnight (23:56) is an experimental literary arts zine edited, designed and published by Kevin Lo and John W. Stuart. The zine began with an open question posed to friends and acquaintances, “what’s wrong?” and has since developed into an annual showcase of experimental writing, design and visual art.

Based in the firm belief that the personal is political, the zine explores the possibility for small stories, bad poetry, vast dreams and private pains as a means of advancing social change. We aim to shed some beauty onto our individual struggles, drawing the connections between them and fostering more honest expressions of love and dissent. Though realistically, we know one little booklet isn’t really going to “change things”, we do hope it’s something that people will carry around with them, flip through, and find a little encouragement and energy when needed.

The zine is also a space for radical typographic experimentation, blurring the line between form and content. We see typography (and graphic design more generally) as a critical and contested area of cultural engagement. We fuck with typography because typography fucks with you…

We’re always looking for new contributors and collaborators, so please feel free to get in touch.