OUGD 503 - Responsive: Collaborative

Today, me and Harrison have met up in order to further discuss our ideas about our chosen brief, 'Monotype'. We decided it would be best if we were to both research into 'The Big Issue' and then come together and show each other what we have found.

I started by looking on 'The Big Issue's' website which can be found here, where I found this:

'The Big Issue offers people who are homeless the opportunity to earn their own money; a livelihood. The Big Issue Foundation, as a charity for people who are homeless, offers vendors the opportunity of a life. We work tirelessly alongside our vendors to help them deal with the issues that have caused their homelessness or have developed as a result of hitting the streets.

It can be as little as 12 months from a significant life event to losing everything and arriving on the street. Last year alone we worked with over 3000 individuals, enabling people who are homeless to take control of their lives.'

'The Big Issue Foundation’s mission as a UK charity for people who are homeless, is to connect vendors with the vital support and personal solutions that enable them to rebuild their lives; to find their own paths as they journey away from homelessness.'

'Nearly 100 people a week turn to the Big Issue for an opportunity to help themselves at a time of utter personal crisis. The Big Issue Foundation is small but national charity for people who are homeless. We work with some of the most disadvantaged and excluded individuals in the land; people who have lost more than it is comfortable to imagine, their homes, their families and their sense of themselves in the world. We urgently need to offer more support and hope for the future.'

'We have a unique relationship with our vendors because they are our 'customers' and not our 'clients'. We offer the hand of support and believe that personal change is always possible no matter how challenging or complex the situation. We try to offer vendors the opportunity to integrate in all aspects of our work including all our fundraising events such as our London to Paris ride where several vendors have ridden the amazing journey with supporters to help raise vital funds and awareness for our work.

Never look down on someone unless you are helping them up. As you go about your daily life please do stop and say hello to a vendor, buy a magazine and go a little further. Our work is 100% reliant on the support of our donors, please make a donation to the Big Issue Foundation, join us on one of our amazing events, come up with your own idea to raise funds and do it yourself, or take the plunge and volunteer for charity.'

Their core value and belief is this:

"We can never tire of repeating the core Big Issue message – vendors are working; they buy the mag, they sell."

They also have a donation scheme:

To get a sense of how the newsletter and magazine looks, I found this on the website. We also intend on purchasing an actual 'Big Issue' and hopefully interviewing an actual vendor of the magazine in order to get some primary research from someone who knows more about what 'The Big Issue' does, and what it means to them.

Newsletter:

This is very useful, as it shows us that the magazine is currently very much typography and photography based. After we have created our typeface, we wanted to create some layouts to represent how the typeface would work in its intended context. From looking at these, we know what the current layout looks like and can now begin to figure out a way to incorporate both the old magazine and the new element: the typeface.