What was your creative vision for Tilt’s
first issue?
Mansi Thakkar (MT): We didn’t have a rigid
agenda, it just developed organically. We
started with the cover and knew that we
wanted to create a visual pun with the word
Tilt while giving it an Indian flavour. Anahita
(Sarabhai, co-founder) came up with the
idea of showing the inside of an auto with
the mirror tilted to reveal a couple. We went
with that and added an Amdavadi street
because we wanted the local community
to relate to the zine. As for the layout, we
decided to keep it minimal so that the focus
remained on the individual pieces.
What is your design ideology?
MT: The idea behind this zine was to include
as many perspectives as possible. And that
is reflected in the final content that Anahita
and Shamini (Kothari, co-founder) selected.
My job as a designer was to create a space
that let each of these pieces express
themselves as they wished to.
Anjali Kamat (AK): The main goal of
creating Tilt was to present the pieces
from varied creators in a simple, clean
manner that enhanced them, and also
infuse the off-centre definition of ‘tilt’ by
way of design. The ideology we adopted
was to not stick to a conventional design
language, but to react to each piece
individually and come up with an organic,
queer-friendly approach.
How do you think independent platforms
like zines have been able to foster artistic
expression and diverse representation
in terms of imagery, in comparison to
conventional media?
MT: Zines are relatively easier and faster
to produce than conventional media. That
means more people have the chance
to communicate their visions. They’re
also easier to consume since they have
an interesting mix of visuals and texts in
short formats. Since zines are new in the
space of visual communication, they allow
for immense creative freedom. There
is no one way to create a zine. Zines can
have an expression and visual language
ranging from extremely personal to a more
designed and curated content style. I think
zines have enabled a lot of inclusivity in our
art and design society. We are able to see,
enjoy and understand a lot more narratives
that aren’t featured in mainstream media.AK: Independent publishing formats free
you from constraints like censorship and
structure, giving space to experimentation
with form, content, and even the audience.
They give creators the agency to decide
how they want to showcase their work.
This builds an exciting, powerful space that
allows for diverse, subversive, important
and sometimes just really fun content.Carrying over from the first issue of
Tilt, what was your design approach for
the second issue?
AK: For the second edition, we decided
that we wanted to maintain the whimsical,
home-grown design aesthetic of the first
issue, while also reacting to the new pieces
in front of us so that it all came together in
a cohesive fashion.Designers of the zine, Mansi Thakkar and
Anjali Kamat on the unconventional visual language of TiltDIFFERENT STROKES
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