Text by Art+ Staff. Photos courtesy of Novice
Print is very much alive especially now that we have communities within the metro that embrace independent publications. Novice Magazine, an artist-owned and operated publication, that makes room for young and upcoming creatives.
“Novice” takes its name from Nueva Vizcaya, the home town of its founders. “We really wanted our name to be connected to our home province, Nueva Vizcaya, that sounds young and cool, like Gateway or the most obvious one, NuViz. From there, we stumbled across Novice. A word that is both honest and telling, the name faithfully represents our brand,” The Novice team shares with Art+. They launched their maiden in issue in 2019, dedicating its pages to aspiring creatives from different disciplines as they make their mark in both local and international scenes.

Independent publications such as Novice have unique challenges particularly in producing their issues. “[We] rely on pre-orders of our magazine and active partnership with our contributors,” they said. This is not unusual for most independent publishers considering that it is a self-funded project.
Although funding is a challenge, they allot proceeds from their sales to worthwhile projects. As such, the sales generated from their second issue will go to funding “The Volume Project: #BraverTogether.” The fundraiser is dedicated to frontliners and hard-hit communities by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is a follow up to “The Volume Project: Pao Edition,” an outreach program in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya where the Novice team setup a library and provided school supplies for fifty pupils and teachers.
For its second issue, Novice features paragliding pilot, Violet Lucasi (violetology.com) on its cover, poet Julia Hao, watercolor artist Alissa Evangelista, and works by over 80+ creatives from all over the Philippines.
You may support Novice and read about all the creatives they featured in this issue by pre-ordering a copy. Pre-order period for their second issue is open until 15 July 2020. To order a copy of Novice issue 2, click here.