How to travel without traveling? Take this purple pocket size independent magazine „Desired Landscapes“ and travel across the cities, time and cultures. Issue 4 invites you to Budapest – Vilnius – Algiers – Kuwait – Athens – Lisbon – Vienna – Buenos Aires – Anafi – New York.
In this issue you will find a story about Vilnius with typeface „Skanaus“, which was created for Vilnius by Erasmus student from Vilnius Academy of Arts.
Interesting? Take a read of an interview with „Desired Landscapes“ editor in chief Natassa Pappa.
How did you come up with the idea to create this magazine?
My fascination with cities was always there, but as a graphic designer, I was struggling to find a direct link to my practice. I started initiating research projects where I turned the documentation of my urban experiences into print guidebooks. This is when I decided to take the next step and start a magazine.
So I was traveling through the eyes and minds of the contributors. Quite relevant these days, right? Travel without traveling.
How do you choose cities?
On each issue, you will find little fragments from bigger conversations I had when traveling, teaching, or even when giving walking tours. Since my background is in graphic design, I get to meet and collaborate with people in related fields. So in the end, you get an issue with pieces from the people who write the stories of today’s cities: architects, designers, theorists, journalists, artists. I invite the ones that I find more fascinating and I always aim for a certain contrast between the featured cities per issue. So from Tokyo to Kuwait, from Vienna to Algiers, and from Athens to Vilnius!
Why did you choose pocket size format and what is the idea about purple cover?
The pocket-size idea came from my efforts of packing light. When I travel – even for a one-day escape – I always want to carry at least one magazine. And since the ones I read are mainly independent, most of them use special papers, inks, or even formats that could be damaged on a getaway. So I was looking for high-quality, book-like texts, in a design outfit that I wouldn’t mind carelessly throwing in my bag. There came the size and the purple cover. The color comes from the paper itself and its almost velvet texture endures any little mishaps. Keeping the same color per issue suggests the idea of a full collection of journeys that you can always get back to.
Sometimes you are writing about a city from a historical perspective. Why?
Exactly! When I started editing I didn’t have this on my mind, but as I kept picking pieces I realized that the history of cities and visual culture wasn’t quite covered from a graphic design perspective. At the same time, I am also collecting pocket city guides from around the 50-60-70s and what I appreciate in them is that in a sense they never get old. You can find imagery and cities’ descriptions that not only inform you about the sense of place but if seen from today’s perspective they also reveal part of its history. And somehow I find this more rare to find in the age of social media and instant consumption of visuals.
Why Vilnius is included in issue 4? Also, I heard that the typeface “Skanaus” was created by Erasmus student who was studying in Vilnius.
Vilnius, crazy story! The writer, Eva Vaslamatzi, proposed a story based on a letter from 1935 found on a neglected archive in Paris. It was the report of a telepathy experiment where the medium seems to describe the city of Vilnius. When she explained this to me, I found it a perfect fit for our City Guide section, where each time we experiment with ways to approach and explore cities. So, I’ve never been to Vilnius, neither the writer nor the medium!
The only one who has been in Vilnius is the designer of the typeface I chose to use for this piece. And that is another crazy story, as I picked “Skanaus” before realizing that it was designed with Vilnius in mind. To my eyes, the typeface worked very well on conveying a mystical feel fitting to our telepathy story. The designer though, Daniel Gremme, was inspired by the many cathedrals to be found in Vilnius, therefore the medieval finials of the characters.
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