Oi! – A Journal by Young Creatives

OMG, it’s finally here! After three and a half months of digital editing on a broken MacBook screen, a tight budget and a handful of amazing creatives Oi! – ‘A Journal by Young Creatives’is finally here! The journal came from an obsessive compulsive tendency to collect critique and create publications, I became tired of reading the same old content, which seemed to lack a sense of consciousness for creatives.


After studying Fashion Promotion (Ba) at UCA Rochester where we were taught about Publications, PR, Marketing, Journalism, Styling, Creative Direction, Digital Editing, Branding and much more but with a fashion focal I sponged all the theory I could in addition to physical practise in the industry.

I  went into teaching Art & Design GCSE & A Level a few months after I graduated from uni and was working self employed as a Creative Director, and Image Consultant . As fulfilling as this was a day job there was still something missing, I had creative constipation and seriously needed another outlet.

Taking a break from teaching for a few months I had to go into myself to figure out what I really wanted to do and it came back to me, I thought of the thing I loved the most and the people who I admired such as Anna Wintour, Alexander McQueen, Isabella Blow, Diana Vreeland, Andre Leon Talley, Kelly Cutrone, Editors, Curators, Publicists, socially conscious active Creators/Designers.


I remembered being 18, leaving college and writing a list of things I wanted to do and I realised I hadn’t really done an official publication. I didn’t want a fashion magazine or anything too superficial I wanted to get into the nitty gritties, the real social issues and address them in a critically creative way. I loved being able to have sketchbook journals in college and in uni and as a teacher , showing the students how to present their work in an organised, personalised but yet informing manner. I missed being a creative with ideas that came from my surroundings and my mind, that were manifested into reality using my hands.

With print publications dying a painfully slow death I realised it was necessary to create an in between; we’re always on our mobiles, iPads , laptops , we live in a digital realm, we coexist , communicate and relate with the help of the internet and technology, and I will not let that stop me or anyone from being creative, evolution and adaptation is important, we can’t make excuses for what we think we can’t do, we have to push forward till we find an answer. If we are passionate enough we will get those answers and be able to share them.

Dilate was the first dummy publication I did at Uni, then theCool Collectives, and ION Magazinewas the first front page and inside spread that I styled that was published.

We live in a capitalist society, don’t we, and because of the privatisation of creativity and creative institutions, someone somewhere owns your right to express yourself as a creative. Someone somewhere dictates your future as a creative, teaching us to conform to a more logical and subservient working life that benefits them and leaves us broken, confused and robotic.

We pay thousands of pounds for education, how are these expenses justified?
No matter how middle class you think you are, we obviously can’t afford these as  we are given loans and ‘scholarships’ that take years to pay back. Education is now a luxury that we seem to act like we didn’t already deserve, we don’t even question this authority? With cuts to funding for the arts, a prodigious rise in tuition fees, and a lack of jobs for graduates, undergraduates and creatives alike. What the hell are we expected to do? Somebody answer me…?

We should be ashamed of our society, we constantly project onto other nations and the dirt is happening right here in our homes, why don’t we fight for ourselves anymore, why don’t we speak up, why don’t we create, consciously as artists? Where is the solidarity?Creatives, come on, let’s get together, lets do what we can to get back our privileges , the ones that come with being a human being!?
Rant over… for now…

So I started jotting some ideas down for the content, with the focal point being the city.

I created a Press Release:

and without rambling on about the hardships … here we are today.

Main Editorial – ‘The City Will Expand’ visually illustrating the idea of Gentrification equalling Homogenisation minus Indigenous culture, featuring Andrea Phillips,  curator and participator of Art Music and Politics Must Meetand Tex Royale, whose 2020 vision gives me reasons to carry on creating and living digitally and spiritually!


Creative Direction | Styling | Photography – Obui Amaechi

Models – Andrea Phillips | Tex Royale
Oi! Issue 1 • The City Will Expand 


Issue 1 >> Read Online

This is an interactive journal, so click away at the PDF and feel free to join us on the journey via Instagram , Facebook, and Twitter. You can read and access the journal online HERE!

If you’d like to be involved or contact any of the creative content contributors please feel free to click on their credits and let the internet do the rest!

If you appreciate print and wish to keep it alive keep your eyes peeled for the 25 Exclusive ‘Manifesto’ Print Packages COMING SOON!

To read the journal online click the link HERE!

Follow:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *