Insider: Nous magazine

A beautiful little riso printed publication sitting somewhere between a zine and a magazine, Nous is based in Manchester and aims to break down the prejudice surrounding mental illness.

The ‘Work’ issue is out now, so we caught up with art director Lisa Lorenz and assistant editor George Odysseos to find out more about the making of the magazine.

In the making of this issue we…

Explored
Our working life, which means so much more than just our job title or income. We read stories portraying our ill working society: cheap labour, discrimination against class or gender, performance pressure, and alienation through digitalisation and surreal work environment. We also discovered work’s potential for being our calling, support and cure.

Listened to

Read
Books: R.U.R. Rossums Universal Robot – Karle Čapek; The Communist Manifesto – Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels; Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace; Place/Waste/Dissent – Paul Hawkins; Fucking Good Art #3 – It’s Play Time; Useful Work vs. Useless Toil – William Morris;
Magazines: 212, Kater Demos, The Outpost, Die Epilog, Delayed Gratification.

Procrastinated by
Dreaming of our holiday at Lake Garda in Italy.

Worked from
Home! Where else could you find infinite supply of tea, biscuits and funny advice from your best mates?

Learned
About the incredible youth unemployment rates in Croatia and how the Bloody Sunday events in Ireland still shape young people’s working lives today.

Lost sleep over
Printing! We had intended to make this one a bit slimmer, but the Work issue is actually our fattest one so far! It took 48 hours, 12,250 sheets of paper and 4.5 litres of soya ink, but we got it all done in three days.

Were surprised by
The kindness of strangers and friends. We couldn’t have done it without you. So much folding!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIAQl4lBOXD/

Were excited about
Nous reaching the other side of the Atlantic. We are now available in Printed Matter in New York.

And everyone should buy a copy because
Of the fantastic content from our talented contributors! Explore what work means to them and find out what it could mean to you.

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