This magazine, as its name suggests, seeks to underline important values that are neglected in our everyday life. Launched in October 2009, this annual publication was conceptualised and produced entirely by Hjgher. It features a wide range of content about arts, culture, fashion, design, and the creative industries from around the world.

“We love print and we couldn’t find a magazine that resonated with our beliefs,” says Mr Justin Long, Hjgher’s creative director. “So, we did it ourselves.”

The magazine is designed to be sensitive to the reading experience. It is a convenient size to carry around, and made of an appropriate paper stock that was chosen for its texture, weight and readability. The magazine also has a customised typeface to represent its content. Each issue’s layout is designed to be clean, with minimal advertising to disrupt the flow of reading. As another definition of ‘underscore’ is background music, each issue also comes with a carefully selected soundtrack to complete the reading experience.

Its inaugural issue, UNDERSCORE N°1: THE ___ ISSUE, explored the theme of “emptiness”. The cover and six back pages were deliberately left empty to communicate this message. The magazine also came with a pencil attached, turning it into a journal where readers, inspired by the content, could pencil in their own ideas.

For its second issue, Underscore was inspired by the Japanese’s notion of wabi sabi, and looked at three simple truths: nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished. On the cover of UNDERSCORE N°2: THE CONSTANT ISSUE was a deformed bug, a victim of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, that symbolised beauty in devastation. As part of this issue, Underscore also collaborated with bespoke bicycle-makers, Vanguard to produce a one-off series of four bicycles inspired by the theme. This was the first of future collaborations with other creatives as part of “THE U STORE”, with all items curated by Underscore.

“At Hjgher, we seek to create new experiences through any medium, be it print, interactive or a physical environment,” says Mr Long. “With Underscore, it was through the medium of print that we sought to break preconceived notions of what a magazine should be.”

While it was challenging to build a community of people involving advertisers, distributors, photographers, artists, and readers who shared Underscore’s beliefs, Mr Long and his team persevered because they wanted to “break old rules and justify new ones” with this magazine.

Since its launch, Underscore has won international design awards and garnered attention from around the world. Through the magazine’s cross-cultural themes, Underscore hopes to build a global community of like-minded individuals and encourage a life worth living.