Prada Journal creates multimedia art from user-generated images and text

September 18, 2017

Prada Journal is moving away from print and text and towards visuals and images. Image credit: Prada

Italian fashion label Prada has launched the fourth edition of its Prada Journal project, a multimedia campaign that relies on user-generated content to make up its bulk.

Prada Journal asks fans to send in their own images, whether they are photographs or illustrations, along with text that tells a story. Previous years of Prada Journal have taken a more literary bent, while this year sees the brand moving toward multimedia.

Prada Journal
Prada Journal is a yearly contest the fashion house holds that calls on its fans to submit their own artistic content.

Usually, the best submissions are singled out for a prize or larger recognition.

While past years have focused on literature, asking people to send in their best short stories and poetry, this year’s Prada Journal instead focuses on a more visual element.

Prada is asking for images and words combined in an artful way that tell a story.

Participants are asked to submit three images or video digitally along with text that tells a story in line with this year’s theme of “inner landscapes.”

An image from Prada Journal. Image credit: Prada

These images can be photographs, illustrations or videos, but Prada stipulates that they must come in a digital form. This is because Prada plans to share the best submissions through its social media pages.

Prada has launched a dedicated Instagram account just for this project to more easily spread the submissions.

The fashion house has provided a few examples from notable artists including photographer Margaret Zhang and musician Mimi Xu, who both contributed photographs and text that emphasize how an inner landscape can be a comfort no matter where you are in the world.

Prada Journal this year, as in years past, is created in collaboration with Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore and Luxottica.

User-generated content
This year’s Prada Journal is the first to focus exclusively on multimedia and digital content.

Past incarnations have taken the form of a literary journal, promoting the written word and relatively longform text, as opposed to this year’s visual focus with a brief text accompaniment.

Part of this move towards digital can be attributed to Prada’s recent turn towards digital as a profit-maximizing move.

Prada’s net revenues were down 5.5 percent in the first half of 2017.

In the six months ended July 31, Prada’s saw revenues of 1.469 billion euros, or about $1.768 billion at current exchange, down from the same period in 2016. Restructuring in the face of challenges such as declines in Japan, the Americas and Europe, the brand is continuing its move toward digital as it seeks to promote growth (see story).

An image from Prada Journal. Image credit: Prada

But Prada has not completely abandoned print, as evidenced by the announcement of its upcoming fall-winter 2017 collection.

Prada is aligning its fall-winter 2017 collection with some of Hollywood’s up-and-coming stars by sponsoring a series in Flaunt magazine.

The Los Angeles-based publication’s “Drop, Cover and Hold On” feature finds actors who are poised to shake up the industry posing in Prada designs. While it often features award-winning and blockbuster talent in its marketing, Prada has also looked to emerging actors, allowing it to associate itself with stars on the rise (see story).

Prada Journal is the brand's latest attempt not only to pivot to a more digital and social-oriented campaign but to get its fans involved with the brand in an artistic way.

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Prada Journal creates multimedia art from user-generated images and text

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