Gut Gestalten

Gut Gestalten is an annual student journal produced by the FH St. Pölten master’s class in graphic design. Typically, the entire class collaborates on a single magazine, but for the first time during my year, each student was required to design their own layout from start to finish. This allowed us to experience every step of the magazine design process.

The overarching theme for our year was “Wicked Problems,” and each student wrote about a social or cultural issue close to their heart. My article explored the role of women in society and the ongoing challenges they face, with a particular focus on internalised misogyny, how it manifests, how to recognise it, and how to unlearn it.

For the design, I began by researching both the topic and editorial design references. After writing and refining my article, I created an initial layout inspired by collage and punk aesthetics. These influences shaped the typography for the headlines and the unique visual style. I kept the color palette minimal to emphasize the content. All collages were handcrafted digitally by me.

Additionally, all articles were published online on the Gut Gestalten- website. The website gets reworked every year by the current class of students to add their design, so our Website Design is not accessable anymore.

All student issues were later published online on the Gut Gestalten website, which is redesigned annually by the next class. This project was my first full magazine layout, and it helped me gain confidence in using InDesign. Looking back, I can see areas for improvement, but I’m still proud of the outcome and how it marked the start of my journey into print design.