Joey Livingston Talks about Low Rez Magazine

Our art director has a new community project in the works. We sat down to talk with him about it.

So What is Low Rez Magazine?

Low Rez is an offline, community built zine that you can hold and fold, designed to be printed cheaply, probably at home by myself and our contributors, or maybe at the local ship and print store for the better quality laser printers.  The content is contributed by my talented friends and I.  It’s really a mix-bag of art and culture, designed to help us see other viewpoints besides our own.

Why are you so interested in this project?

I love art projects.  I love the challenge of a big puzzle that it takes more than one person to solve.  I love great story telling, and I love comic books.  So I’ve been thinking about this for years now.  How do I combine all of these things that I love so much?  How can I get people to work together on creative projects?  About a year ago, I was sitting on my porch thinking about this challenge, and I remembered that when I was in high school, I produced a similar magazine with my friends.  It was tons of fun, but we only managed to publish one issue.  Now that I have a little more experience, I think it’s worth another try, to get this low-budget magazine model right this time, and show our community the kind of exciting things that are possible with just a little effort.

When will you launch the first issue?

There’s no set launch date.  I don't think there will ever be one.  It's ready when it's ready.  As far as I’m concerned, there’s not even a commitment to publish the first issue.  We're taking this a day at a time, with a low-pressure/no-pressure approach for myself and everyone who is working with me.  I’m excited about this project, but it’s going to be a lot of work.  The only way I can deal with that level of work, is to find the approaches that make it a constant joy for me, a sanctuary from the real world, a place where I can relax and have fun.  So it’s going to take some time to figure out the way forward.

That said, even though this project is in early stages, I love so many things about it already.  I’m determined to figure out a sustainable way to put out content on a regular basis.

So how can people read it?

The magazine is not even really a thing yet.  It’s just a project I’ve been thinking about and planning for a while, and now I’m talking to people about the idea, and assembling a team to put it together.

Once we get to that point though, it will be published offline.  If you want to read it, we can give you a copy or mail it to you.  All those details need to be worked out.

Why not publish the magazine online?

I’m sick of the whole idea that I can take a creative masterpiece that someone spent countless hours creating, like a painting or a short story, or a breathtaking photograph, and reduce it to a 3-inch space on the screen of my phone.  Sometimes the true effort and meaning is lost in this context.  I want to try something different.  Maybe we’ll publish online one day, but for now, the magazine stays on the tree pulp.