Alexander Flores. The March 1955 Playboy Project

Alexander Flores, Director Artístico y Diseñador Gráfico de Dallas, Texas, gran admirador de la revista 'Playboy', decidió, tras enterarse de que no se había publicado ejemplar alguno de la revista en Marzo de 1955, imaginar como podría haber sido su portada. He aquí algunas de las propuestas.

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via behance

I'm a big fan of Playboy magazine - And not for what you might think - I've admired what Hugh Hefner did with only 8 dollars and change in his pocket in his Chicago apartment - He had a vision - One that surpassed its original humble beginnings, but originally, was a cutting-edge publication, cool-hunting for the emerging new young heterosexual male connoisseur of music, literature, art, fashion, culture, and of course, the opposite sex.

Regardless of what some may think of the publication (it's decidedly not the same cutting-edge in neither design aesthetics or editorial content as it used to be), I'm still a fan of the "golden age" Playboy. I'm hoping that maybe one day Playboy will return to its high-standard, convention-challenging roots.

Until then, I decided take a hole in the Playboy volumes and turn it into a editorial design exercise in historical/cultural archetypes - I learned recently that there isn't a March issue of Playboy in the year 1955 (see the issue grid below) - According to certain accounts, the press deadline was missed for March, so there was no March issue for the second calendar year of the magazine's existence. It's a unique opportunity to fill a gap in cultural history and makes for a great design exercise. Here are some of my early results.