Lydia Garnett and Lucy Nurnberg on Accent’s debut print issue

Date
23 March 2016

We’ve long been big fans of Accent, the photography journal that celebrates lives lived out of the ordinary from around the world. Since 2013 it has existed as an online quarterly but this month sees Accent jump wholeheartedly into it’s first print issue. Put together by Lydia Garnett and Lucy Nurnberg, the pair have worked tirelessly to translate it into print form.

“When we created Accent we saw a gap in the market for features about ordinary people with extraordinary stories to tell… After three years, we still haven’t found anything on the shelves to fill that gap and we decided it was time to give it a shot,” explain Lydia and Lucy. With a new format, the duo felt a rebrand was essential to mark the transition. “The masthead was the first cornerstone of the identity that we came up with – it’s bright loud and playful.” Working with art directors Luke Tudor Griffiths and Charlotte-Maëva Perret, the team wanted to maintain the rich aesthetic of Accent so “full-bleed photographs and clean, legible articles” are still a key feature.

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Accent: Issue One

The initial challenge in the rebrand for Luke and Charlotte was to convey what Accent stands for. “We’d never worked with the designers before, so we stripped back the identity and explained the key things that defined Accent – diversity and individuality, personal storytelling and powerful portraiture,” say Lydia and Lucy. “Luke and Charlotte responded to that and came up with identity that feels timeless, making reference to the bright colours of photographic film packaging with elements of human mark-making.”

Printed by Generation Press, the mag feels plush yet accessible and draws inspiration from the magazines Lydia and Lucy love to read. “Format was one of our big considerations. It was important to us that Accent could sit next to the big glossy fashion magazines on the shelves so that our subjects get the prominence they deserved,” they say. “We’ve always loved 80s mags like _The Face, i-D and Interview that are filled with energetic type and big smiles. We wanted to create something with that level of confidence.”

In the first issue, the mag talks to Kia Labeija (its cover star) about her drag ball performances and how she raises awareness of the realities of living with HIV. Other features include Douglas Mellor’s photographs of Tom Garvery, a free-spirited, yuppie-hating biker he first met in the 70s and the faces of the iconic punk London postcards that used to be seen everywhere in the 80s and 90s.

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Accent: Issue One

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Accent: Issue One

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Accent: Issue One

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Accent: Issue One

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Accent: Issue One

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Accent: Issue One

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Accent: Issue One

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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