Alice Lorant is a Japanese-American Graphic Designer based in NYC with roots in Tokyo, Japan. With professional experience working at Le Studio Anthost, Alice has honed a versatile skill set, specializing in editorial content, branding, digital experiences, motion graphics, packaging, and photography. Passionate about blending creativity and functionality, Alice strives to bring a unique perspective to every project, combining artistic vision with practical design solutions.
P002 “in the air”
Association: Print Media
Year: 2024
Advisor: Amanda Chung
# Members: 1 (solo project)
This zine was created as a satirical and visual narrative on music and fashion inspired by the lyrics of the song, “In the Air” by Destroy Lonely. The zine explores the intersection between two distinct yet familiar cultures: high fashion and alternative rap. It aims to highlight the unique blend of style, music, and identity, capturing the intimate space where these worlds collide. “Maison Margiela, all I see is numbers / Yeah, rain on my umbrella, these 808s like thunder”
At this time, I was working at my part time job in fashion, and wanted to expand this knowledge through graphic design. Interestingly, the fashion house, Maison Margiela, is often mentioned in rap lyrics, much like it is within the song, “In The Air”. Destroy Lonely’s music is a genre beyond simple hip-hop which is a sound I was not well versed in until this project. I approached this project mainly through imagery as I believed it would be an easier representation of these mixing of cultures. Each page takes direct inspiration from the lyrics of “In the Air”.
Physically, the zine presents limitations or rather the lack of limitations to photography and printing. I wanted to see how far I could take amateur materials and turn it into high quality design. Images are originally taken on a normal iPhone, while binding is done with a sewing machine.
I first photographed Isaac Polonsky in a Margiela coat, using props like an umbrella to reflect lyrics from "In the Air" by Destroy Lonely. The images were edited in Photoshop with adjustments to curves, posterize, and threshold. After formatting in InDesign, I printed a draft on a Risograph and made adjustments before printing 23 copies, which were cut with a hydraulic cutter. To incorporate a tactile, fabric element, I chose canvas for its durability and used 4-ply Bristol board for the edition tag, mimicking the Margiela label. The zine was sewn together with a sewing machine, along with the lyrics on the back, inspired by MM6's signature stitch.
Colors are simply black and white as they are the only colors mentioned in the song. Printed with risograph and laser, on coated canvas, habotai, textweight paper, vellum, and 4ply Bristol. All design, photography, photo-editing, printing, cutting, and binding was done by myself with Amanda Chung as my advisor.
Model: Isaac Polonsky
Key Takeaways: This project was ultimately a more abstract take on editorial/bookmaking. While it highlights my ability to work with various materials and conceptualize ideas, to push it further into the realm of graphic design, I could have experimented with different font pairings or created custom typography to better reflect the song's energy and the juxtaposition between high fashion and alternative rap. This would have added a unique, cohesive touch to the design and strengthened the overall visual narrative.