Part 2: A Thread about design in fashion (not fashion design)
With Ester Mejibovski, the genius designer behind Dazed's new look, the Naomi Campbell exhibition, a Margiela invite and more
Hello everyone, I hope you’ve had a good start to your week. As promised, here’s part 2 of my exploration into design in fashion (not fashion design). What I mean by that is the design elements that exist around the clothes - so branding, identity, typography, and in this case, magazine spreads, show invitations and exhibition design.
For this interview I spoke to Ester Mejibovski, the design wunderkind who ended up in fashion by accident (“I had the stereotypical ‘Devil Wears Prada’ idea of what it would be like”) when she was offered a role at Dazed three years ago. Since then she’s been responsible for endless inventive and memorable magazine spreads, working closely with Editor-in-chief Ib Kamara and Art Director Gareth Wrighton to define the publication’s refreshed vision.
Alongside her work at Dazed, Ester also recently worked on the Naomi Campbell exhibition at London’s V&A - a huge feat for a single designer. She’s also designed show invites for Margiela, exhibition graphics for Campbell Addy, and collateral for musicians like Shygirl. I really love her work and I hope you do too!
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You’ve been instrumental in shaping the design of Dazed since Ib Kamara and Gareth Wrighton took over. What was the brief from them?
At the start, Gareth was like, ‘OK, it’s Ib’s Dazed - how can you interpret Ib’s styling through the design?’ I’d never had a brief like that before. So I was looking at fashion imagery, photography, all these things that aren’t related to graphics at all, and trying to interpret the way Ib styles.
The first issue was the Rihanna issue - we spent a month, seven days per week, trialling a million different things. That was the first re-design, and since then we’ve kind of re-designed every issue a little bit.
Then in 2023, Gareth asked me to completely re-design the magazine by myself. I had three months, and his brief was this red, squiggly Cy Twombly line painting that technically has nothing to do with graphic design, and this TikTok of two shrimps forming a heart. He asked me how I could interpret these two things - the TikTok and the painting - through the design of the magazine, and make a system based on these things that have nothing to do with graphics.
That’s very much the style of the briefs with Gareth - here’s something so unrelated to design, sometimes not even visual, and then how can you translate that into a graphic design concept. Which is incredible - he’ll never say, ‘Make it look like this design’ or something he saw online. That’s never, ever the brief. It’s always something really random - a painting or an idea.
When I was working on the redesign, a lot of it was conceptually based on TikTok, because its visual language is so familiar to the magazine readers. We had the credits on the top left, just like the username on TikTok - but you wouldn’t be able to tell in the final design that that was the reference. If you know, you know. And that’s kind of how I work now - if you know, you know, but if you don’t, that’s fine.
How does the process of planning the design work? What are the kind of conversations that happen?
We generally just chat. I don’t have to go to the office, but I go because it’s so fun and we come up with ideas so much faster. If I stay home I get depressed and bored. We chat about everything that’s happening in pop culture, what we want the magazine to look like, how we use white space, what the energy of the issue needs to be according to the theme etc. Then I go home and sit in silence and think about how to interpret all these things.
We also have a lot of graphic stories that don’t have fashion images. And that’s something I absolutely love working on. We had the sex column for a couple of issues, which didn't have any images. And the brief was to interpret the article graphically by making the text columns perform sexual acts.
Another article was about online dating, so I made the columns into phones and added hands swiping left and right. Once we had an article about psychedelics so the brief was to design the article as if the person reading it was reading on psychedelics themselves.
The design is a way to visualise the articles using typography - and, if needed, graphic elements like a bitmap of a hand - but always within the constraints of the grid/type system we have in place already. The process of coming up with the concept of the article is the most fun bit. I used to want to be a painter, and now I’m able to use typography to create an image in a way.
Which bits of design do you work across?
I do a little bit of everything. So motion, creative, concept, graphics. I also designed a show invite for Margiela. That was a really fun one! It was a collaboration with Bior Elliott. The show was in a theatre, so we decided to do a ticket. We found this amazing Britney Spears ticket from her 2000s tour in Wembley, and we based the ticket design on that. Then we were like, ‘OK, what’s the storyline?’ Because we had to do three trailers. So we did one trailer that was the ticket being printed, and then another with the ticket being ripped off at the entrance. And when it was ripped, it would reveal the date of the show - the ‘aha’ moment. And then the third one was the ticket being scrunched up. Then Bior booked the cheapest photo studio in London, in Dalston, and we shot it ourselves. It was very DIY. I was very surprised that the outcome looked so clean, as it really was us just figuring it out! I think that’s a lesson I learned about the industry - I used to think things were so professional, but in fact it’s often so DIY!
What other fashion-related collateral have you worked on?
I used to work on social media trailers. Sometimes I’d do fashion dinner menu design, drink design, fashion show invites, fashion show notes, merch, exhibitions, websites. Quite a lot of random stuff!
Is there a project you’re most proud of?
It’s definitely the Naomi Campbell show at the V & A that opened recently. It’s the biggest project I’ve ever worked on, and my first project as my own studio. I’ve been working on it for a year. It’s been so different, working with a museum rather than working with a magazine. Working with really serious curators who every step along the way ask you to explain the reasoning behind each decision. Also so much beyond graphics.
I had to work out the system for the labels that are at the bottom of each showcase. The curators asked things like, ‘Do you know what angle they have to be at, and what height, so that they’re readable and accessible for all museum visitors?’ That level of precision - so many questions that I’d never considered before. What material are the section panels with all the information (the boards which tell you what the section is about), what texture? It was very intense - thinking about something for so long and considering so many different things.
I went back to it this weekend and I was thinking about how it doesn’t look like that much work, it just looks like simple labels explaining which dress it is. Nobody will know how long it took us to figure out the size of the label rail, the lighting above the labels, the size and the height of the label. Whether the section panel was backlit or lit from above - so many decisions. That’s how it always is with design work - everything takes a lot of time.
That was definitely my most straightforward graphic design project. The process was deciding what font we use: deciding what’s the most readable but still in the realm of Naomi’s world.
When it went live I almost cried! There was a moment in March when I was having so many nervous moments because there were so many unresolved questions, and I had no idea about materials or lighting. And Ibby, the set designer, was like, ‘Think big! We can do whatever you want. Any material!’ And I was like, ‘I don’t even know what materials exist!’ But somehow everything worked out, and I’ve learned so much from this project.
Can you talk a bit about your creative process?
It always depends on the project/brief but for example I did the ‘I Love Campbell’ exhibition graphics for Campbell Addy. I was like, OK, the name of the exhibition is so close to the classic ‘I Love New York’ graphic (by Milton Glaser). That’s a visual everyone is familiar with, so how can we play with that? Finding a reason, a concept. It needs to make sense. I like finding something, an object, that’s part of people’s real life experience. Because that always relates to people way more than anything that is purely graphic/aesthetically pleasing. The Margiela ticket is also a good example of that.
People are returning to magazines again these days. Why do you think this is?
I think that now, print is more of a special thing. When people decide to make a print project (magazine, book etc.) it’s not cheap, it’s a commitment. They’re more likely to care and put time into it.
And I do think people miss having something tangible, something real to hold, something to collect. Yes, we have our phones, but nothing online is permanent, or easy to reference. Even if you make a moodboard on Instagram or whatever, it’s so hard to look at later on. Whereas if you collect magazines or any print material, it’s physical and it takes up space. There’s a reason for it to be in your room, and so you’ll look at it.
Dream project or brief?
I’m working on it now - it’s my ‘please don’t steal’ project. At university I was worried my bike would get stolen because my bike seat kept getting nicked. I made this massive sticker for my bike that said ‘please don’t steal my bike’ and people kept stopping me at red lights saying how fun it was. So I made smaller stickers that people could put on phones, laptops etc. - referencing the stickers you get on company laptops with a barcode and the company name.
Then in October 2022 I made an artwork for the MAJOR exhibition at the Strand, that was a set of ‘please don’t steal’ lighters on a plinth, and visitors could steal them. It was incredible watching people try to decide whether it was ok to take a lighter or not. The project has been evolving quite organically. At the moment I am working on a collaboration between ‘please don’t steal’ and my friend who has a jewellery brand. Very excited about that!
I’m not sure how commercial I want it to be, because it started as an art project. I think it’s good to have your own self-initiated project where there’s no client, and you can do what you want. I don’t think you need to monetise everything.
I’d also really love to do visuals or graphics for a pop star. Especially tour visuals! I absolutely loved the creative/visuals on Rosalía’s tour, and of course Beyonce’s were incredible. I’d really like to work more with young fashion designers, interpreting their vision - less so for graphics and more for overall creative. I think my strong suit is coming up with ideas. I had the pleasure of working with Marie Lueder for her AW24 fashion show, helping her with visuals for her show announcement - that was really fun.
Ultimately, I absolutely love Jenny Holzer or Barbara Kruger. Barbara also used to be a magazine designer! Being able to use type and imagery beyond just relaying information for usability, but visualising a concept instead.
You can visit Ester’s website and follow her work on Instagram.
Threads of the week
I have a bad habit of finding amazing things in vintage shops and not buying them. Here’s a pair of Yohji trousers I found in Time’s Up in Copenhagen and have thought about every day since. (If you’re visiting, also check out Strand32 and Jerome).
Loose Threads
All my friends have been posting this new brand ‘Normform’ and their bubbly stickers. Intrigued to see what’s up, and commending them for a strong tease strategy.
Sault dropped a surprise new album as a WeTransfer download. We are not worthy! Impressed by the WeTransfer team consistently delivering interesting and innovative projects with great artists.
Emily Sundberg said that home tours are a recipe for getting robbed, and she’s not wrong.
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I really enjoyed this read. Especially because i've recently just started a fashion magazine and hope to make physical copies once it picks up. Im still experimenting with cover designs for the signature look