About 

Special Issue s is a curated platform exploring the expanded field of design as a site of research, resistance, and repair. We publish irregular issues that bring together voices from diverse disciplines—designers, writers, artists, and educators—who challenge dominant narratives and propose new modes of making, thinking, and relating.

Each issue centers around a theme, inviting contributions that are experimental in form and critical in content. We value slowness over scale, context over content, and conversation over conclusion.

Alongside these thematic publications, Special Issue s also acts as a living catalogue of contemporary creatives—mapping practices that are thoughtful, interdisciplinary, and grounded in social and material awareness.



Special Issue s is less a publication than a proposition:

That design is not neutral.
That form is never without politics.
That publishing can be a space for collective study.

We welcome proposals, collaborations, and gentle disruptions.

First Edition - Print Version

Purchase It Now 

Editorial

by Jessie Cunningham-Reid
Creator of Special Issue s

Special Issue s Promotional Video made by Liam Power

Borne out of my own “notes” on my phone and having suffered from anxiety and depression, I record intrusive or anxious thoughts on my phone in an attempt to externalise them and take their power away.  I started to notice some common threads in my thoughts and could see some feminist themes and also some internalised misogyny and self-hatred which I think speaks to our society and culture, as to what messages we learn growing up and from the world around us.  This led me to thinking about magazines.  Growing up I used to collect Dolly Magazine, and this monthly publication shaped much of what I thought about my womanhood during my teenage years and is a huge platform that sends messages to generations of women.  Of course, this is not a new idea, that media is bad for self-image, but I suppose I am not necessarily saying that I hate magazines, I think they’re great and also clever.  I guess, I wanted to create a satirical magazine as I have a love for imagery, fashion and text.  By subverting the magazine and injecting some of the themes I have already mentioned, I want to create a voice for parts of ourselves we have shamed or forgotten about.  In my own work I use “selfie” culture to comment on narcissism and the irony of taking what can be seen as a vanity project through a lens of self-criticism. Navel gazing, selfie-taking and self-therapy become blurred in an attempt to understand oneself, change and the world around us.

As a mental health worker, I am familiar with mental ill-health and have been exposed to an array of people’s experiences of the world.  Unfortunately, stigma is still rife in our culture, especially with the less prevalent illnesses such as schizophrenia and Borderline Personality Disorder.  I think we have started to talk more about anxiety and depression in everyday conversation, which is great, but stigma is still around mental ill-health in general.  I suppose the title Special Issue s alludes to the common phrase when people say “They’ve got “issues” or that someone is “special” in a derogatory way.  But in my magazine I am elevating these terms to a new status, where I am genuine about it and in turn am actually mocking society.

Artist
Olivia Mròz

Conversation between Olivia Mròz
and Jessie Cunningham-Reid

Could you tell me about your artistic process and how you came to make your most recent work?

My process with my most recent text based works are excerpts from voice recordings, diary entries, poems(?), self observed psychological thought streams, and influences from random things I pick up from online culture. It all comes down to understanding what, but more importantly why, I am feeling and/or expressing what I am at that time.

Growing up I had my reality denied, so this acts as a direct platform for my parts to feel seen and heard, parts that weren’t able to express and understand their emotions growing up. The direct, ironic, crude, offensive, angry, sarcastic, dyslexic, passive aggressive, excited, happy, anything-I-feel/want-to-say approach is (un?)surprisingly healing - helping process, shift and move these energies and shame out of my mind and body.

Ironically some of my text explorations have started to adopt the layers and distortions I use in my other mediums.

How did you arrive at these particular “phrases” I can see, the text in your work?

Most of them are diary excerpts, like ‘I Only Like My Men In Heels (& Gowns)’. ‘I Only Like My Men In Heels (& Gowns)’ is a bit of a fuck-you to the homophobic family and people I grew up with. Logically understanding that it’s not a healthy or productive way to go deal with the situation, but emotionally an important process for me to give power back to those shamed parts.

‘Horny For Women’ and ‘I’m Not Your Mother’ were another diary excerpt from a self observed psychological thought stream. ‘Horny For Women’ coming from a psychological exploration of my sexuality in order to try and understand it. From a very young age I would question whether I was gay or not, and I remember before I even started primary school, wishing I had a penis. And that’s a lot to unpack, and can arrive at many different meanings, but coming to the conclusion that I’ve never fully been attracted to men for the right reasons. And the most sexual shared energy has been with women, so stringing together ‘Horny For Women’.

‘I’m Not Your Mother’ came from understanding that some of my most toxic relationships with both men and women came from people who were projecting their mummy issues onto me. This was a big a-ha moment.

‘My Child Parts’ is just a direct reflection of what a lot of my work revolves around this year, and ‘Today A Man Stared At My Fat Camel Toe’ was something humorous and uncomfortable I found going through my entries.

‘Don’t Touch My Body’ is an example of internet culture influence that resinated with me. I randomly came across a .gif of a little girl yelling “DO NOT TOUCH MY BODY” and I immediately starting crying, a lot. It was a very powerful moment for me, being able to connect and grieve for that part of me rather than dissociate and shame that part like I usually would. It had such a big impact on me I pretty much started to put together a photobook together right away, with pictures of me at different ages, all captioned ‘Don’t touch my body.’- but it was way too triggering, so I transferred the idea into this simple text exploration. I’ve since had it printed on a tee shirt, and even though it’s too distorted to read, I still feel shame wearing it which is interesting. In saying that, it’s also one of my most favourite and personally powerful works I’ve ever created.

Have you always used text?

Yes I have always used text, well since I was a teenager. Though back then I used to write poetry mainly, and layer it on top of my photographs. One of my finals in year 12 was a photograph with layered text. It’s very cringy, but I’m also very proud of my then self for being so vulnerable.

Do you ever think about what drives you to make art?  And if so, what does?

Absolutely! In one word: Trauma. This year mostly focusing on transgenerational trauma and parts psychology.

I come from a complex trauma background, which has had major impact on me from an infant. And because it is so present in my life on a daily basis, it naturally drives my art.

What is a subject you’re really passionate about that people might not know you’re into?

Psychology? Drag? But I feel I post a lot about those topics online so I don’t know how unknown that is.