Back in the nineties we published what was, and still is, a ground-breaking magazine here in Aotearoa called Planet. The magazine, helmed by editors like Russell Brown and Paul Shannon was well ahead of its time. Planet was the first 'online magazine' in NZ, was proudly aware of its turangawaewae, featured advanced fashion, music, political and cultural editorial and stands in the NZ Archive as one of the 'books' that shaped New Zealand. One of the most cutting-edge elements of the magazine though was its vibrant, vacillating and often rambunctious design courtesy of Marcus Ringrose, Gideon Keith and Simon Oosterdijk of V8 Visual Communications - now Seven and The Wilderness respectively. The boys were strongly influenced by one David Carson who had turned Ray Gun into the first magazine in the world where design was king. Carson has maintained strong links with the New Zealand graphic design and typography scene since those days and it's heartening to hear he will be back as a guest speaker of this year's Semi-Permanent alongside Kate Moross, Bibliothèque, Pentagram, DC comics illustration legend James Jean, All Of Us, Weta Digital and many more.Semi-Permanent returns to Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 August 2009.
