Case Study: The UnMag

Designed and Developed by 15 TWENTY FOUR

We knew every month wouldn’t be feasible. We also know once we had a blueprint about how this would be made, we could run it from there relatively quickly. With that idea in mind, we chose to do a quarterly. We knew we wanted to keep the budget to a minimum outside of hours put in, that we we could keep everything done in house and showcase not only our strengths, but since it was going to be filled with indie artists that maybe seeing as it was all done with grit and grind and by us grabbing our bootstraps and facing it head-on that maybe it would give others a little hope of what could be done in the right hands. Since it was going to be the opposite of a magazine, we chose UnMagazine. After we chose that, we realized something more cleaver. The Unmag, a zine. Final title.

From an idea, to concept, development to launch, all in house.

It was early July and since we were doing a quarterly we should release every season. Fall would be issue 1. Fall is full of events and memories that people cling onto heading out of summer so we chose ‘Nostalgia; A Look Back’ for it’s subject.With that set in stone, we set the date in stone, September 22, 2025, the first day of fall. Having to work and carve this out was no easy task since we would be giving this issue away for free. How? Keep it digital. Understanding that digital flipbooks are a format not a lot of people have seen, we went that route. It would be something that would get people excited, at least enough to maybe read what was written inside.

Watching what the market in what we do enjoys and wants to see, we narrowed down something that literally anyone could pick up, and pass along to anyone they knew. It doesn’t matter your gender, nationality, ethnicity, style or taste. We created something for people.

Reaching out. This may seem easy but so many people are scared to actually do anything with their works, especially taking a chance on what we were describing. We ending up getting the fitness and health guru Clint Planck. We figured he could bring that hope along in a way that more readers could grasp and really understand while appreciating. Next came a story. We needed a writer. After approaching and musician we had worked with in the past, he recommended his drummer, and that he was a great writer but wasn’t able to get anything published yet. After getting in touch, and with the theme of this issue on Nostalgia, the third story he sent in had all the morsels in it to make something relavent to a section we were going to make. We were lucky to get him.

After that, knowing we were short on time and people, (because the more people you have when you're on a deadline the more you have to have constantly connected at a moments notice) we created the MSK WRKSHP. With giving ourselves pun-filled pen names or even a past family surname, and a mask over parts of our faces, it allowed us to present the sense of humor we can have at times while giving the readers something to attach themselves to once the figured it out. By doing this, creating alter-egos, it inspired us more even in the articles and art. 

The MSK WRKSHP

Concepts, Designs, 80s, 90s, 00s, and what works today

Since it was releasing on September 22nd, we started shooting our “Artists Use Different Tools” campaign so we could use it for the zine. We shot 2 commercials/promos that described we were cooking something up with a play on tools in the kitchen. The second was different musical instruments, different pens, brushes, pencils, and even drafting tools from past architecture experiences. We even added sewing machines. It gave an industrial touch to what we would be showcasing and gave the yang to our yin with the softness of our first commercial. We released them through Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube with songs we created ourselves(outside of the story videos). A third was filmed that showed actual people and a process that will be released in October.

We planned 1 year ahead. Always be ready for that next step. That’s what we do at 15 Twenty Four. Prepare for anything.

Design is huge in anything but to grab people’s attention it had to be done right. We took style choices from the 70s, 80s, mostly 90s, and some early 00s. Since this was a concept of nostalgia, film, writers, art, and anything else you could cram into that, we had to find the right articles. While writing, we realized half were age appropriate for all and the other half could be somewhat of a grey matter. What art could separate that? We chose theater and went with act 1, intermission, and act 2. We had seen productions where the tragedy was always in the second act and thought that would work in this and had never seen it done before(remember that we are creating something that had never been done before). Intermission would be for a walk down memory lane. It would also have recipes, a bucket list, and ways to enjoy the movies we had made a list for earlier in new ways. While some gave you 31 picks for October films, we chose to do 62 and make half appropriate, the half for the ones that like their October movie selection on the more unfortunate side. wanting to tap into the nostalgia for the past, we came up with a way for the reader to be active in the zine by putting an alphabet letter on certain pages, a-z, that would coincide with a song on a playlist. The great thing about the flipbook is it allows you to create clickable links. This being only a suggestion, and one of our personal playlists, we found a way to do it without listing the songs and gave the reader something that truly felt more 90s and less today.

Less than 3 months from an idea to being executed into a deliverable.