EXSCRIBO

5 NEW EXCHANGES

It is the first thing I see when I look into the gallery. But then again, how can anyone miss it? When I look at the Fine Line Magazine wall, I see a collage of all things beautiful. As a designer who loves the fine arts, I can’t help but appreciate this seamless fusion of the two. The wall brings text and image together in a way that transcends the average magazine. Every photograph, every illustration, and every word is carefully considered and placed to form an immaculate, wall-scaling composition. The images are printed in ultra high definition and flat mounted on foam-core, holding fast to their two dimensional radiance. It pulls you in and keeps you glued to its contents. The pages, tiled and gleaming, seem to look back at the viewer and at one another. Each one is beautiful and interesting on its own, but takes on a whole new life when grouped with its counterparts.

The magazine itself focuses on the appreciation of art and ideas across disciplines. By putting these otherwise hidden gems in one place, the publication produced by Jessica Steeber and Cassandra Smith aims to make high art accessible. It’s almost as if they bring the gallery experience to publication. The image quality and minimal use of text and description give the reader the ability to view the work as authentically as possible. The art communicates for itself. There are also no advertisements in the magazine, and I really think this helps to maintain the intimacy of the art and viewer relationship. It is clear to me that if there were advertisement, or if the pages were poorly designed or executed, the magazine would not be nearly as successful. The presentation and publication both scream of high quality and simplistic beauty and create an incredibly unique viewer experience.