Mayflower

Melissa Gómez Desislava Danova

Mayflower is an independent publication that provides a platform to voice the personal narratives of creatives in the search to define the meaning of youth.

NEXT UP

Graphic Elisava 2020

Lots of things tend to happen during a graphic.elisava master’s program. Mountains of research. Maybe one or two existential crises. Designing so much that you have nightmares about mismatched hex codes.

In some weird twist of fate, this year’s biggest ‘thing’ ended up being a global pandemic. We were forced to embrace digitalism over presentialism, do more with less, and channel disillusionment into positivity. In school, the lesson comes before the test, but life often takes the opposite approach. We think we’re better for it.

PLATFORM AND IDENTITY

For this year’s degree show we decided to continue the digitalist lifestyle that we’ve come to know. Pills replace name tags, thumbnails replace handshakes, and ingenuity replaces normality in order to illustrate how we view topics like “design ethics”, “comfort”, “manifestos”, and “freedom”.

About

This is graphic.elisava’s digital Degree Show. Find out more about the program at graphic.elisava.net

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to this year’s students in the Graphic Design and the Editorial Design master’s degrees. The 2020 graphic.elisava Degree Show – both the platform and the campaign that precedes it – wouldn’t have been possible without the indefatigable work of a group of design students making time for it in the middle of their end-of-year presentations.

On the typeface

Thanks to Non Foundry for letting us use their Non®Natural Grotesk throughout the website and campaign of this digital Degree Show.

Visit nonfoundry.com to find out more about their work.

Project Information

Breaking the stigmas of youth while painting the complex picture of the naive, gritty, passionate adolescence.

Mayflower is an independent publication that provides a platform to voice the personal narratives of creatives in the search to define the meaning of youth. A moment in time which is not purely reserved for the young, but as well for those who feel youthful by heart, those who still explore, thrive, and grab from life with both hands open. We do this through an eclectic selection of essays, articles, and photo reports. In each issue, Mayflower approaches a different angle on the topic of everlasting adolescence, spanning from the pure definition of youthfulness, to its state of mind, to young love.

Issue 01 faces the absolute definition of youth, the restlessness, and hopefulness attached to it. Through the content, we explore the tender age where people construct the notion of self, influenced by peers, lifestyle, and culture. We traverse the hedonistic fearlessness that defines every visceral reaction of that time.

We believe in the honesty and transparency of our work. Thus we have chosen a diverse selection of contributors, each stating their own point of view regarding the topic. Mayflower does not impose a voice upon its contributors. We have remained neutral, giving a platform for truthfulness. All pieces featured in the magazine promote individuality in a human-centered way.

Bittersweet, nostalgic, passionate, and unrestful.

Mayflower’s objective of rendering the complexity of the topic is represented through the entirety of the publication. This is achieved through the use of one main rule – the content leads the design, rather than the other way around. We are open and understanding of what each piece needs to shine. A concept we have spread across all content and issues.

The use of design elements such as stickers collages, scans, and overlays give the current issue a nod to our own adolescence, our sense of freedom, of being unburdened, playful, and excited about life.