DESKTOP TURNS 25

One of the oldest and most respected design magazines in Australia celebrates its twenty-fifth birthday today. After a seriously impressive relaunch and facelift this year, desktop has continually given us the latest, most exciting and dynamic printed design content in Melbourne. desktop’s twenty-fifth year anniversary ‘time capsule’ issue is on sale today. Read it, bury it, and then dig it up again in twenty-five years. This is a very special issue, guest edited by Andrew Ashton / Studio Pip & Co.

A lot has happened in twenty-five years. Think about it: computers and graphic design were very limited to construction, implication and quality of production. The design culture was very small, especially in Australia, the existence of a design magazine was very difficult to create and even harder to manufacture. This just goes to show why desktop and Niche, the publication, are constantly leading the way in design innovation and creativity. They are more relevant in today’s culture than ever before, through additions like the Design Awards, along with Qantm, and a massive online presence through their websites and social media.

Make sure you get your hands on this amazing issue, some features include:

“Garry Emery, Warren Taylor and Lisa Loxley share our favourite design stories from the past twenty-five years, and our favourite design projects from ‘now.’ Sam Barratt, Melanie Cousipetcos, Dan Pike, Anita Ryley, Graeme Smith and Amanda Roach respond to various tasks throughout the issues. The issue will feature a pull out poster designed by Andrew Ashton / Studio Pip and Co. A look at David Pidgeon’s typographic work from the past two decades with a fifteen- page visual essay of ‘design ephemera’ collected by Studio Pip and Co. from the past two decades.”

“David Lancashire writes on Australia’s creative culture and we look at eight Australian ‘labour of love’ projects, and interview the people who started them (including Australian INfront, Stacey App, Junior, Kevin Finn’s Open Manifesto, The Narrows, Dominic Hofstede’s Re:collection, and Process Journal). Also featured is Student Survey – Info-graphics guru Alex Tyers has sifted through forty-four pages of responses from our online student survey (completed by over three-hundred and fifty students) to give us a terrific insight into the hopes, fears and inspirations of today’s Australian design student.”

Here is a little word from Brendan McKnight, Desktop Editor -

“Back when it started in 1986, desktop was not meant to be for Graphic Designers – it was set up to be for ‘desktop publishers’. Like most magazines, it has gone through a few transformations including slight name changes, masthead changes, plus a handful of redesigns (the most recent being the March 2011 redesign and refocus). Looking into the future, it will be terrific to read this twenty-fifth year anniversary issue in twenty-five years time, to see and compare where Australian contemporary design was at in 2011. As of this year, we also release every issue as an iPad/digital version, and who knows how we will be consuming magazines in 2036, but I sure do hope that physical magazines still exist in some shape or form.”

The past, present, future, now:

Twenty-five years of design publishing love.
Ideas, pictures, insights, moments,
caught up in a time capsule of ink on
paper from people who love design
like a sister, bro, frenemy or foe.

Guest edited by Andrew Ashton / Studio Pip and Co.

Words: Matthew Cohen