Four Minutes to Midnight issues 1 through 5 were created as part of my MA thesis at the London College of Printing in 2004. The ideas behind them and the desire to create a design magazine had been running through my head for many years before (often in frenzied dialogue with John), and the MA provided the perfect opportunity for me to realise them. They were created in a very limited edition (though available for free as printable pdfs) and released over the span of three hectic months.

ISSUE 01: Dissonance

The inaugural issue! This issue began with a simple question posted on the blog to friends: what’s wrong? The resulting answers determined the structure and contents of the issue.

> download issue 1

ISSUE 02: A Quick Fix

This issue contained visual responses to the first issue in the form of a set of 8 tipped-in postcards.

> download issue 2

ISSUE 03: Speak

Three parallel texts by Maya Drozdz, Joel Shane and Kevin Lo addressed issues around design / society / education from a personal perspective. A cacaphony of other voices are also thrown into the mix.

> download issue 3

ISSUE 04: Remix

Responses to questions of ‘love, pain and dissent’, ‘identity and co-option’, and ‘saying vs. doing’. Also includes another set of remixed postcards.

> download issue 4

ISSUE 05: Manifest

This issue officially concluded Volume 1, featuring an extended typographic poem made from the words, phrases and ideas of the dialogue surrounding the project.

> download issue 5

ISSUE 06: Kneejerk

Issue 6 was a special issue designed by Maya Drozdz’s students at the Montserrat College of Art using material from previous issues.

> download issue 6

For the academic-minded, or those looking for more context, please feel free to download the project proposal and final report of my MA Thesis.