RIGHT: PEACE POSTER, Designed in December 2004 for a peace rally held in Pennsylvania. Lindsay Balland and Brian Lightbody conceived, executed, and distributed the poster in the space of three days. “We are both quite happy with the results,” says Ballant. “Especially after the events of this past year—as it seems the powers that be are literally ‘crumbling from the inside’ before our eyes.” (LEFT) TOP: Ballant works with Peter Buchanan Smith on the Art Direction of the monthly style magazine, PAPER. The intended audience? “The old guard, the new guard, the avant garde, the off-guard,” says Ballant. BOTTOM: FREEDOM OF THE PRESS NEWSPAPER, created in March 2004. “We created a blueprint from the idea of using cited facts to explain the situation of the news media, while commenting on the state of newspapers—i.e., the lack of viable content,” Ballant says.

Lindsay Ballant Latin Name: Combibo, comburo! Age: 23 443.604.4099 | www.lindsayballant.com, www.passthison.org

When she graduated from SVA, Lindsay Ballant’s portfolio was a well-designed argument on why portfolios don’t have to show student work. “It should show students going above and beyond the call of duty,” she says. “So I explained the thoughts behind my ideas, because it’s the ideas that count.” Ballant’s determination to question the establishment surfaces in the stacks of intelligent projects that surround her computer. She also happens to have some really beautiful ideas.

Peter Buchanan-Smith met Ballant when he subbed one of her classes and she soon turned up on his doorstep with an offer to intern. “The best designer is a real student,” says Buchanan-Smith. “She has a thirst to grow and learn, which is so important.” He quickly brought Ballant in on book and music projects, including the critically acclaimed rock companion The Wilco Book: Picturebox. When Buchanan-Smith was hired as the creative director of Paper Magazine, Ballant took the desk next to his.

Putting in days at the gorgeously unapologetic style rag of record makes for a self-described “double life” when it comes to design, namely because Ballant is also immersed in an ongoing series of guerilla political projects. Issues of Freedom of the Press appear in various commandeered newsstands around New York, aiming to set the facts straight about how America gets its news— and resulting in plenty of media exposure for Ballant and her partner, Brian Ponto. So what’s the future for Ballant—social commentator, book-smart designer, or creative force behind glitterati bibles? Yes. “I like things that are undefined,” says Ballant. “But it makes it hard to tell people what I do.”
Alissa Walker