Revue Tintamarre is a free publication showcasing the work of one student every month

Eva Aguirregomezcorta and Pablo Desportes are both French students of type design at La Cambre in Brussels. Around a year ago, the pair found themselves searching for a publication which focussed on the work of students, not affiliated with a university or institution. “As students, we couldn’t find this kind of editorial project or experience around us, so we created one,” they tell It’s Nice That.

The result is Revue Tintamarre, a free monthly publication focussing on the work of one art school student in every issue. Reproduced on white card, in black and white and bound by rubber bands, Revue Tintamarre is distributed in ten locations – museums, libraries, art schools – in Brussels, with the idea that members of the public will be able to collect the issues. Having published five issues so far, Eva and Pablo plan to publish 12 in 12 months.

The distinction between showing these students’ works in public, and not in an educational context, is important to the pair. “We started thinking about the project a year ago with the wish of designing an editorial project showing the work of students out of the school context," they explain. “For us, the student’s work in the context of school is still an exercise, but out of the school, the work gains value.”

Each month, the duo encourages the contributing student to create entirely new work, but the theme is up to them. The first issue, for instance, is by Agathe Bertin and presents “a ceramic project influenced by Roman ruins”. The second then switched to graphic design featuring an interview with Raphael de La Morinerie, before moving on to photography in the third issue, made by Maeva Sanz. The fourth documents Benoît Michel’s flat and workshop and the fifth is by type designer Anatole Couteau, who offers “a thesis work proposing a new way of designing emojis.”

In terms of design, the publication is flexible, morphing and adapting to whichever student is contributing to it. Eva and Pablo’s roles, therefore, are more like curators, planning which students to feature, the concept and production of the publications. It’s this which keeps Revue Tintamarre so compelling; there’s an unpredictability to the publication as each issue surprises and intrigues in comparison to the last.

There are some factors which remain the same, however, in order to establish Revue Tintamarre’s visual language and give it recognition. Its logo is a play on other logos affiliated with intellectual property. “We wanted to play with the ambiguity of the students’ work and the legitimacy of a production made by non-professional designers and artists,” the pair explains. All texts are set in Néron grotesque, a typeface designed by Pablo and in Or Lemmen, a typeface by Or Type, furthering the sense of subtle consistency.

While visually pleasing and conceptually sound, the crux of Revue Tintamarre is the platform it gives emerging creatives. Not bound by discipline or style and available for free, it truly feels like a democratic and guerrilla distribution of creative work, ensuring people are aware of some of the most exciting work coming out of Europe’s art schools.