Design Ideas Logo
Oh Hey! Magazine by Shanti Sparrow

Oh Hey! Magazine by Shanti Sparrow

Design Ideas
April 8, 2016
No Comments

Oh Hey! Is a zine that was developed by Shanti Sparrow to bridge the gap between design and entertainment. She loves reading about design just as much as she love reading about music, movies and popular culture. Oh Hey! became a way to deliver this light hearted and quirky content with a tongue in cheek approach.

The design of Oh Hey! was inspired by the aesthetic of comic books. I love the experience of a comic book. They tell stories, often through the use of humour, in little bite size chunks. Each frame introduces new content to build into a full story. Oh Hey! mimics the visual language of a comic in its use of a modular grid structure and stylised dots and lines. I used a bright, pastel, palette to help the look feel more contemporary and playful. I chose not to use photographs and images and to instead let the structure and minimal graphics provide interest. This approach resulted in the typography and words becoming the hero and lead to a more communication focused design.
-Shanti Sparrow

Shanti Sparrow

Other than comic books themselves the work of Roy Lichtenstein was also a big influence. He is a personal inspiration of mine and he was the feature article for the first issue. I was super keen to try and adapt his style into a modern editorial look.
-Shanti Sparrow

Shanti Sparrow

My style varies quite a lot depending on the project. I always ensure my designs follow an interesting grid structure and I have a penchant for geometric patterns and graphics. The studios I have worked in have always had an emphasis on clean and refined typography. This has become one of my obsessions and I am so damn happy when I can get a beautiful shape to my copy. When it comes to my conceptual projects, I'm fortunate to work for causes I support and care about. This work is about creating empathy between the message and the audience. I try and find the commonality between the cause and donor and make the issue relatable.
-Shanti Sparrow

Shanti Sparrow

Creating this fundamental understanding, leads to support and ultimately progress. I am inspired by almost everything! My studio, Warhol, Barcelona, Carson, My mum, Sagmeister, travel, Escher, New York, Vignelli, My dog... Recently my greatest inspiration has been my students. They are new to design and filled with raw enthusiasm. It's contagious and free from the constraints and expectations of the industry. Some of the most original thought happens at this stage and it's wonderful to help them develop and realise these concepts. I am continually blown away by their creativity and this pushes me in my creative practice.
-Shanti Sparrow

Shanti Sparrow

One of the turning points in my career happened when I started to create new designs for the pure creative pleasure. This is how Oh Hey! was born. Self directed projects allow you to express yourself as a designer free from the constraints of a client. I found issues and ideas I was passionate about and I think the joy I felt making them comes out in the design itself!
-Shanti Sparrow

About Shanti Sparrow

Shanti Sparrow is a graphic designer, illustrator and dreamer based out of Brisbane Australia. She has been working in boutique studios for over 7 years for both corporate and not for profit clients. Sparrow has specialised as a conceptual designer focusing on fundraising and awareness campaigns. Sparrow started her career as a print based designer and her work is characteristically informed by the grid with refined typography and bold color choices. As an illustrator Sparrow has created a unique style involving scanned textures, vector patterns and digital collage. These dreamlike scenes engage the child in us all with their playful and enchanting aesthetic. Sparrow has published two children's picture books with a further two to be released in June 2016. See more of her works on Behance or her website.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *