Hailed as ‘the Yellow pages for creatives of colour’, Yellowzine is a print and online publication aimed at providing ethnic minority creatives a platform to showcase their artwork. It is committed to supporting the contemporary movement for the progression of visual art by African, Caribbean and Asian diaspora artists. To further this mission and to build on their previous work, Yellowzine has curated their third issue, centering it around the theme of consciousness and ‘conscious styling’ in particular.

In this edition, they spoke to 15 stylists (including the likes of Jade Adeyemi, Tia Oguri and Guap’s very own Seyon Amosu) about how they navigate consciousness through their art work and what it means to be sensitive to and aware of the contexts in which you create. The themes – wide ranging and timely – included environmentalism; slow and fast fashion; gender and sexuality; and home and belonging.

The issue was launched on Saturday 4th of May at Arts Catalyst with an exhibition and a launch party. The night featured art by the majority of their artists, a screening of the short film ‘Jagga Jagga’ by the incredibly talented Derrick Kakembo of Reform The Funk and a live mural on the night by Raymond Fielding.

Continuing in the spirit of improving access, they will also shortly be launching a free eight-week training programme, aptly named ‘Night School’, in collaboration with award-winning fully integrated global creative agency, The Brooklyn Brothers. This programme will be open to 18-25 year-olds from ethnic minority backgrounds and is designed to unlock creative potential and open doors to future careers within the creative industries. The programme will blend storytelling, brand advertising, PR, experiential, digital and social content, with pin-sharp strategy to, in the words of George Bryant, Founder of Brooklyn Brothers, help brands ‘rise above the noise’.

In a similar vein to D&AD’s Shift Programme, which we covered earlier this year, Yellowzine’s Night School has been designed to address the underrepresentation of talent from diverse backgrounds within the industry, including at The Brooklyn Brothers. According to Yellowzine, latest figures show that still only 12.4% of employees within creative agencies are from BAME backgrounds. The programme aims to address this disconnect. The Night School sessions will be run in the evenings to fit around existing commitments. Applicants do not require any experience or qualifications.

Aisha Ayoade, Co-Founder & Chief Editor of Yellowzine, speaking on Night School described it as “part of Yellowzine’s movement for the progression of African and Asian diaspora creatives in the UK”. She continues: “we’ve seen that ‘diversity and inclusion’ have become the biggest buzzwords in the advertising and creative industries, but in reality, diversity rates are at a standstill.”

The Night School recruitment drive is now live. Applicants can apply here.

The deadline is Friday 7 June 2019.

#NightSchool2019