Et tu, Brute?; or Becoming Immortalized in Print

Let me start out by saying there’s this fairly popular (Japan only) magazine called Brutus. It’s a men’s magazine that deals with culture, lifestyle, fashion, etc. By the looks of it you might guess it’s aimed at the Tokyo-ites of Japan and it probably has a touch of highbrow to it. Regardless it’s very well known in Japan and I think they’re on issue 618 or so, so it’s been around for more than a few years. It’s actually a very interesting magazine from a design standpoint. Like any magazine, they have standard sections which are the same throughout. Also like any magazine, they have special features or coverage which changes each issue. One of the unique ways they handle this is by changing the look and feel of the whole magazine to suit each special feature. Basically, they have one big theme every issue which determines the special features and those two things combined determine the look of the cover. As for the inside, well I imagine it stays more similar but changing everything about the cover of your magazine save for the masthead (Logo which reads “Brutus” in this case) is pretty neat. Also every page of the magazine has an interesting design style and rarely does a column resemble a newspaper article. Taking a look at the covers of several past issues will illustrate my point:

There you have it. It barely looks like the same magazine in a way. I think it’s impressive that they’ve managed a uniform non-uniformity; but then again I’m probably saying that comparing this magazine to a far less artsy mag such as Grassroots Motorsports. They have no need to look avaunt-guard.

Another point that is similar to any other magazine is that they have photographers and photographer’s assistants.

Now, on a separate note I have another background story for you. In America I studied Japanese language for four semesters. The classes in America were a fair bit of fun and in my case actually involved learning from 2 different professors; both of whom were talented, encouraging, and knowledgeable about the subject. All throughout the second half of my training in Japanese I really began to enjoy the fun of conversation in a foreign language and class was almost always a blast. As I became better I started to think about going to Japan to study abroad and slowly my mindset changed to reflect that. Also the people I hung around and joked with also began to accept the idea and by the time I was a senior I was always saying I’d become a famous TV star if ever I went to Japan. The professor along with pretty much all the other students seemed to share this opinion, knowing that I’m just that kind of character. Though really I think most of my friends were expecting more along the lines of me becoming notorious; and that it would probably involve a car, a mountain road, and possibly the police for a brief chase scene. As it happens, it was in a completely different way that I would become a local noteworthy. Though for everyone’s information I have, in fact, appeared on Japanese television at an art exhibit. I didn’t even know they filmed me (I saw the crew) but some friends saw it and told me about it later. I didn’t think that was quite cool enough to count though so I pressed on with my quest.

And finally the two stories conjoin.

I was walking through Tokyo one day, minding my own business when a guy about my age materialized from out of the crowd of pedestrians and came up alongside me, asking in sufficient enough English if I could speak sufficient enough Japanese. I answered in Japanese and we proceeded to have a most interesting conversation. This fellow was a photographer’s assistant for a certain famous Japanese magazine by the name of…you guessed it, Brutus. As a graphic designer I was interested in talking with him about his magazine work as soon as I heard this, but the conversation took a different route. Apparently unsure of what little Japanese I’d shown him, as he was doing most of the talking, he explained in English that he was “hunting the model.” After dispelling the many one-line joke responses that came to mind I got him to explain in Japanese which turned out to be a fair bit easier to understand. Sure enough he was looking for the next issue’s models and he was curious if I’d be interested in putting my name in the hat. I said sure and we exchanged contact info. He then took a snapshot of me to show to his boss and we talked about the pay, the schedule, and what, roughly, would be going on.

Apparently the upcoming issue was going to be on literature and poetry; the article in question on the aforementioned among university students and young adults. He showed me an example of a previous issue and it’s theme plus an article or two. I also explained that I lived in Japan but coming to Tokyo was a bit expensive. We decided we’d talk more about the pay depending on whether or not the photographer for the article wanted me to model or not. I went about my business and about a week and a half later he got back to me. Sure enough I was the man for the job. We talked through email and over the phone (thank you skype) a few times about more specifics and got everything locked in. I then haggled successfully over the price and got myself a pretty nice raise, and when the appointed day came around I headed to Tokyo again. We met at a certain station on the Chuo line in between Shinjuku and Akiba (Akihabara). There was another white guy who seemed to be waiting around; he ended up being a model too. Finally our ride showed up and took us to the place we were shooting at. I introduced myself to the cast and crew and then we got started.

They gave me a nice but kind of preppy outfit; I sort of thought I looked like a model for a Gap or Levi’s ad…or for the local fraternity. I had a couple of assistants who made sure all my clothes were tucked in or out just enough after I got dressed. We were shooting in an auditorium with a stage. They had a podium and a mic up and got me all set up there. Some other models whom I greeted were going to be the audience for the shot. It only took 3 people and the right camera angle to make it look like there was an audience. For the shoot they had me read poetry to them aloud from a book. It was funny because as they were getting the proper light levels for the cameras I didn’t have anything to do but stand there looking cool. So I decided to ask if they wanted to hear a presentation. They sort of laughed and said sure why not, so I gave them an alternate version of my presentation from last semester on Japanese amateur motorsports contra American ones. I covered the gist of gymkhana/autocross and drift events but left out the circuit comparisons. In any case they were about ready before I finished so I wrapped it up with a quick sentence and we got down to business. They took plenty of shots while I was reading into the book and also looking out into the audience. The book, unlike everything else that day, was in English so it was an easy read and my natural public speaking abilities did a good job. Everyone there was actually impressed and one assistant asked if I was into poetry or something after the shoot. Everything went like a breeze and we wrapped up. I changed back into street clothes and we all hung out for a bit on break before the next model (one of the guys in the audience in my shot) got changed and they went to another room to do his shoot.

While hanging out we talked about their mag a little bit and I thanked them for letting me get a unique perspective of the magazine creation process; as a graphic designer I would usually be the one setting up the page and the text and the photos that the photographer would give me but this time I was seeing how the photo process worked in detail. Eventually they headed back in. I was given a ride back to the station, hung around Tokyo for a bit with my pay and headed home. I saved most of it and tossed it into a Japan fun fund. In the end I got a unique experience, pay which more than covered the time spent traveling and the cost of travel, and I was immortalized in a famous Japanese life and culture magazine. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

When the issue came out they mailed me a copy and I was surprised to find that it wasn’t even an article in the sense that it had writing. It was merely a four-page section where the magazine promoted style and fashion relevant to the theme. In short, I had a whole page dedicated to just me, reading poetry and showing off some cool fashion. It wasn’t quite my style of fashion, but I guess I could pull it off if Brutus thought so, haha.

A few days later I was approached by a Japanese friend whom I didn’t mention it to and he said he saw me in the magazine. Before long I was a little Kofu celebrity among everyone I knew and some I didn’t; which lasted for about a month (this all actually happened over the summer; surprise!) and once or twice someone would say hi and I wouldn’t even know them; only to find out they heard I was this Tokyo fashion model and they saw it from a buddy or something.

And there you have it; I set out to Japan saying I’d become famous. I’m not at all famous, but if you look in the right famous magazine you just might see my face. Until next time I’ll keep working on that TV star part.