Augmenting the magazine
ego[n] has presented at Colophon 2009 the call of entry for the new collection, which will be based on the themes of creative collaboration and generative design. Creative collaboration and generative design where some of the basic ideas behind the first collection, which had among its authors the likes of Jonathan Barnbrook, Ed Fella, KesselsKramer, Karlssonwilker, and the late Alan Fletcher. Using Flash software and translating the results to the page in page layout programs was a way to extend our research in magazine design. The new issue will delve deeper in the subject, approaching design in the playful, process-based way that the french Oulipo had reserved to literature, and inviting designers to collaborate freely on our proposed themes. In the footsteps of what Raymond Queneau did with his Exercises in Style by telling the same story in 99 different literary styles, ego[n] will propose ten different magazine makers to explore style variation by working on the same article - at the same time presenting their work ethic and method. Another experiment will be open to illustrators, proposing generative and combinatory approaches to the many forms of the "cute" designer character, in search of "the nature of the avatar". Finally, typographers will be invited to submit their work for our "fonts as process" section. Also included should be italian recipes, infographics, snowdomes and even more fonts.