Looking at previous issues, themes had been set around the title of NEST, such as 'N and E' and 'S and T', and also around general concepts that inform much of art and design, such as 'Light' and 'Form'. As the college runs a wide variety of courses, it is most beneficial to keep the theme as broad as possible in order to encourage submissions from as many students as possible, regardless of degree and ability. I was also aware that certain themes would draw in more course than others, and that some courses, such as photography, would have a more extensive back catalogue of pre-existing work compared to fine art or ceramics (simply due to the nature of the turn-around in the production of work).
Keeping these in mind, I discussed with the union and a selection of peers a range of ideas. We concluded that the theme should be broad and accommodating but should also have clear avenues in which students can take to produce a range of work.
The theme that was eventually decided was FOCUS.
It is an open-ended theme and can be interpreted in many different ways. For example, Focus could refer in a literal sense to the lens focus of an image, or in a broader sense reference a student's personal focus as a member of LCA. The work could be representative of focus within a chosen subject, or could demonstrate a focus on social, political, economic or environmental issues that a student is passionate about. It allows for submission across all courses, including photography, illustration, animation, design, collage, painting, sculpture, ceramics, 3D work, moving image and written text pieces.
In order to keep within the schedule for the production of NEST three weeks were allotted for open submissions. Below is the poster that I designed to advertise for submissions. The poster reflects some reminiscent features from early education - the lines across the page and the outlined text suggest the aids students used when they first learnt how to write - which reflects a 'back to school' nature of starting a new project and a new academic year at LCA. The design is intentionally left relatively blank so as to reflect a clean slate and a new style of design under a different magazine Editor. These posters were placed around the college on all course noticeboards and in strategic communal places with high footfall. A mass email was also sent out to all students in order to reach as wide an audience as possible.
