I went to ‘Straatnieuws’ yesterday, and was in for a big surprise: the editor likes my project so much that he’s asked me to do the  8-page special ‘heart of StreetNews’ for their June issue. This was a biggie! Took my courage in both hands and said ‘can do’.

So I spent the better part of today reading back issues of ‘Straatnieuws’ and making a proposal that I willl discuss with the editor tomorrow. I also made a mock-up for the 8 pages using material that I already have, plus the good old ‘lorem ipsum‘ for text dummy. The paper’s  layout is very visual, lots of good pics and well written but short texts, which suits me fine. This is an impression of what my special might look like:

It will probably end up looking totally different, but doing this gave me a feel for the kind of material I’ll need.

As working title I chose “Neem de ruimte – spelen op straat.”  Which roughly translates to  ‘take public space back – play on the street’.  ‘Neem de ruimte’  can also mean ‘make a change from your normal routine’.  Both sides of this equation are of interest to me in my research.

If the editor is ok with this proposal I will ‘do the thing’ at Jaarbeursplein and at 3 other locations in the city of Utrecht at various times the next two weeks. These will all be locations where people pass through or where they have to wait (like bus stops, cash dispensers, &cet). The locations I will discuss with the editor, then scout them next saturday, do some sketches then decide.

Then I have to plan and execute the events. The editor has a final say, if he says ‘go’ the special will be included in the june edition.  They print 25.000 of the things, how cool is that!