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Going Down Swinging (GDS) is one of Australia’s longest-running and most respected literary journals, publishing print, digital, and audio anthologies since 1979. Needless to say, being approached by GDS to design one of their editions was a career highlight for me.
The theme of the edition I was tasked to design was FAKE. Before developing any layout concepts, I read all the works included in the final book. A common thread among them was the artificial nature of nostalgia, which became my main source of inspiration. Drawing from pieces that explored this motif, I created a design that fused the aesthetics of vintage children’s encyclopedias, high-school textbooks, and the iconic Guinness Book of World Records, a staple in any 90s child’s library.
My goal was to create something playful and fun that referenced these familiar artefacts in a comforting way, while using pull-quotes, imagery, and colours to evoke a subtly unsettling mood, reflecting the tension between nostalgia and make-believe. My top priority throughout was incorporating these elements without compromising the clarity of each individual piece.
“Holly liaised seamlessly with stakeholders, including artists, writers, printers, editorial and marketing staff to make sure that everyone had what they needed. She engaged thoroughly with [the journal] in order to design in accord with the ideas and the style of the content. She went above and beyond for each piece in the book and brought in many elements - both subtle and provocative - that would reward a reader upon multiple examinations/engagements with the page. Upon sending out the book, we received a stream of appreciative photos from contributors and readers. It looked great on social media without compromising the integrity of the object. We couldn’t be happier with the process of working with Holly and the product delivered.”
Hollen Singleton, Co-Editor of Going Down Swinging
