Absurdum Magazine
Project Description
To combine my emphasis in advertising and module in journalism, I wanted to start an online publication. This publication, Absurdum, is a humor/counter-culture magazine meant to provide some sort of commentary on the oddities of Rexburg/Mormon culture.
I learned a lot about what it takes to consistently put out content, to use social media for organic reach, and how to manage a lot of different expectations. This is a publication that I hope will continue to produce content well past my time at BYU-Idaho.
Close-up of the cover we published. Photo by Josh Peters, design by Handel Broseph.
A shot of my website, a black and white version of the first cover story we published, and some concepts for stickers.
Concepts for a sticker marketing campaign we came up with. These stickers go along with a sort of branding joke we started (explained more in the video). People can stick these stickers on whatever they want and then label them accordingly. The QR code takes people to our website.
Me.
Supplemental Material
A t-shirt design we came up with, but COVID-19 halted its production.
A closer look at the sticker design.
Our logo design. We wanted something simple and sleek that could be altered from issue to issue (notice that the logo on our cover design is highly altered). We use the icon on the right for social media profile images and as the icon on our website.
To read the articles we’ve written, feel free to click “THE WEBSITE” and to see our essays and satire stories. For an example of a satire story, see below:
Student From Chicago Actually Revealed to Have Lived In Ogden Until He Was Nineteen
REXBURG, ID — The student who’s worn Chicago Bulls apparel since the day of his arrival to BYU-Idaho revealed his dark secret on a recent date to Cafe Rio.
The student in question said, “Well, I lived in Ogden until I left on my mission, then my parents moved to Aurora, IL, three months before I came home.”
His roommates have had trouble coping with this sudden rush of information. “He sort of tried to have a Chicago accent when I first met him, but he dropped it pretty quickly. I guess that was sort of a red flag.”
This fake-Chicagoan is not alone. He is one of many students too ashamed of their Utah heritage to embrace it. Common arguments include Utah not being “cool” or “hip” enough.
“It’s a safer bet to claim a city you know relatively very little about.”