Smells Like Fluoro Spirit
Fluoro smells.
Not as in stinks, is bad. Quite the opposite. The creative team behind the Melbourne niche publication aim to 'inspire design tangibility'.
What does that mean? Well, what does it mean to you? After all, the interpretation of design is wholly subjective.
Produced by the award winning graphic design studio housemouse, Fluoro is a raw and eclectic biannual design magazine, focused on sustainability and pushing the boundaries of print.
Pick up the current issue, Fluoro6, and it's evident this is a design publication with a twist. Various aspects inspire and provoke the reader through kinetic, olfactory and visual mechanisms. Firstly, Fluoro smells. Imagine wandering in to an airless artist studio, where the overpowering, yet intoxicating fumes of paint, ink and canvas inspire an avalanche of creative thought. Imagine leafing through varying textures of paper that have been painstakingly stitched together. Imagine squinting at happy pops of colour, or interpreting abstract street art, graphic and typographical images. Mix all this together with edgy article content, and what have you got? The Fluoro experience.
Way back five years ago, Fluoro emerged as an in house publication for the friends and clients of housemouse. Originally titled Hmm, the name was changed to reflect housemouse's fluoro magenta brand. Through a partnership with Design Quarterly earlier this year, the pilot issue, Fluoro5, was distributed to an audience over 9000, in addition to housemouse's existing subscriber base of 700.
Housemouse founders, managing and creative directors, Nancy Bugeja and Miguel Valenzuela are Fluoro’s driving force. They lead a dynamic and passionate team, and encourage extensive participation in the development of each issue. Housemouse Marketing Manager, Audrey Bugeja, emphasises the importance of team brainstorming sessions - this is how Fluoro name transitioned from Ho Hmm to Bright and Brilliant.
Fluoro's point of difference in a relatively small niche market is their experimentation with cutting edge and traditional printing techniques and their commitment to sustainable production. Techniques include cold and hot foiling, vegetable based inks, saddle stitching, mixed paper stocks and stitch binding. Produced entirely in house, with the help of generous sponsors Raleigh Paper and Printlinx, Fluoro boasts a readership of over 4000 (and is quickly growing).
So who is the typical Fluoro reader? There is no typical characteristic other than a shared passion for innovative design. You are just as likely to find a Fluoro enthusiast perusing any one of Flinders Lane's chic boutiques (we like Alice Euphemia), as you are in nearby Degraves St, Windsor's Chapel Street or Fitzroy's Gertrude Street. The most important thing is that Fluoro is rapidly gaining interest within Australia's trend setting community.
Editor of Design Quarterly (DQ), Alice Blackwood believes Fluoro is not a typical design magazine. She sees Fluoro as a 'rich montage of fresh design and talented art direction whilst tapping in to the most important things: people, precincts and local design... it's true it has a very Melbourne feel... Feels like a piece of art!'
Such an artwork indeed, that Fluoro readers love to dissect the magazine and use its images and content as display pieces. Forget storing your prized copies for future referral! Fluoro is designed for show.
Building on Design Quarterly's recognition, Fluoro won a Platinum Award in the "Magazine Complete Design" category at the 39th Creativity Annual Award as well as a Gold Award in the 'Magazine Cover Design' category at the 38th Creativity Awards in the US. Fluoro also features in the Big Book of Green Design for 'Showing a Greener Image for Companies' issues 1,2,3 and 4 that promote eco-friendly products and processes.
So what's in store for Fluoro? One thing's for sure, the future is very bright. Despite competing in a relatively small niche market, readers are being attracted from as far a field as Canada and Hobart. (Ok, sorry Hobart, but a passionate Fluoro network does exist there). With a firm strategy in place, housemouse are looking forward to growing distribution channels and ultimately doing what they love: Inspiring design tangibility. This means whatever you want it to.
