What is ‘iterative design’, and how can it help to make publications that transform over time?

How much can a design transform before it becomes something completely new?

In this studio you will self-publish multiple issues of a periodical that mutates with each new instalment. Early in the semester you will develop a concept and loose visual identity (logo, masthead or cover template) for your publication, then design and serialise several iterations of this publication at regular intervals over the semester. Each iteration will evolve your publication’s aesthetic through experiments that are at times dramatic, other times subtle, but above all continual.

You will conduct hands-on research into the history of periodicals, zines, art books, journals, leaflets, tabloids, chapbooks, newsletters, pamphlets and subscription services. You will consult online and physical resources, document and present your findings regularly and incorporate them into your practice through persistent experiments. Your SKO will compile these processes, with a focus on the ideas that didn't make it into the final iterations, reflecting on why this was the case.

Your publication's initial concept should be loose enough to allow for various mutations over the semester, but specific enough that earlier and later iterations are linked recognisably. In evolving your idea, you will consider what expectations you are setting up, and whether these will be met or subverted. You are also strongly encouraged to explore unconventional materials, formats and techniques to engage readers on a sensory level and push the limits of print media.

After conceptualising your publication, weekly activities will alternate between reporting on your research and presenting successive issues of your publication which showcase how you have put your findings into practice. These will be interspersed with workshops on different print and publishing techniques, and discussions of the history and theory behind relevant forms, genres and mediums.

Brief 1: Concept / Proposal
Brief 2: Serialised folio
Brief 3: SKO

Lucy Sante, "The Show Window"