Jamison Lung bends type rules and “pushes the limits of legibility”

Jamison Lung is a trans designer born in Philadelphia and based in Brooklyn. Her upbringing and the historical curiosities it formed naturally lend to her penchant for critical examination through design. “I embrace the degenerative digital texture of the internet, imbuing an abrasive and imperfect quality to my work,” Jamison says. “I want to push the limits of legibility, disorienting the reader into considering a new perspective.”

Jamison’s compositions with Ethics Magazine, a collaboration between herself and True, see type snaking around the page and with unconventional placement, and shape. Writings on American history see the page marked in bullet holes – leaving stark reminders of dark moments – placed alongside playful experimentations surrounding themes of belonging, identity, and lines of internet chatter. One page reads ‘He only knows my swag, not my lore’. Both in print and digitally, Jamison maintains a steady tonal and typographical balance.

There is a sense of boundless play present in Jamison’s work, informed by her gravitation towards satire and the deconstruction of language: “Nothing is particularly sacred and nothing lasts forever!” she says. Jamison cites her inspirations and recent enjoyments: Slapstick radio broadcast Bob and Ray, Mark Jacobson’s novel Gojiro, Jona Lingitz’s work, Will Harrison’s writings, Phase Zero magazine, and Mel Brooks’ 1975 interview with Playboy. Collaboration is where Jamison is most satisfied. She can be found working on Ethics Magazine and assisting design studio No Ideas with their publishing initiative Book Ideas. Now, Jamison is in the process of now creating a film-cum-publication she calls a “Trans-fem Noir” made within a fem/trans writing collective.