BLERR is about the moment. The “BLERR” in space and time of ideas and thoughts. The creative minds that are always moving onto the next idea. BLERR is the space that has not been closely studied and understood, the unknown.

We are a brand new, immersive experience focused on highlighting identities and breathtaking aesthetics in spaces that are a “BLERR” and are criticized by society.  A new editorial approach from the eyes of digital creators of queer-POC niches creating through influence, communities, and designers of expressional art. We are frustrated that there are so many talented individuals who are overlooked or underrepresented. We are a space for developing and curating exceptional talent and identifying social issues in the “BLERR.”

BLERR Magazine focuses on diverse identities, self-expression, and those who are looking to revolt and revolutionize as a creative. We are discovering and uncovering digital influential artists and creatives who have built a niche community and are inspiring cult followings breaking boundaries and pursuing authenticity in the fashion and design world.

Inspired by the digital creators of Gen Z and Millennials, BLERR is the space for anyone whose creativity has ever been suppressed because it was deemed it wouldn't fit into society.

BLERR was founded in 2019 in the middle of the night, not thinking I was ever going to start up a magazine. During the pandemic, October 3rd, 2020, is when I started creating visual cover mock-ups. Maybe it was a form of manifesting, but it sure lit a fire under me to create something much grander. That is when everything started clicking, and I pulled in a great friend of mine and a model I worked with in a past fashion show, Faith Blackshear. We planned three huge themed shoots for the magazine in two weeks, staying up till four in the morning. This should have taken months of planning, but our drive and focus pulled in thirty models and twelve creatives within those two weeks and executed three shoots in November. All shoots were carefully planned with COVID-19 safety precautions ahead of time. From there on, I built a small team, which gradually grew over the months.

We want to bridge gaps in conversations around our community, whether it be topics of sensitivity of opinions, educating, and amplifying voices.

On this platform, we will amplify and celebrate the different authenticity in artistic mediums that people of color and queer communities are using to spread their truth. We are here to always be one step ahead of the trend and to execute in a way that hasn’t been seen before. Our vision is to create a space where queer-bipoc can gather to create their definition of luxury fashion and art. This platform is everything it means to be authentic, unapologetic, revolutionary, and bold.

Mock- up BLERR layout. Designed by Alex Clapham 

Our magazine is for the photographers, artists, and fashion brands of the future. This is where high fashion meets futurism, sustainability, and androgynous fashion. Whether it be runway fashion or streetwear, you can bet that “BLERR” will be a part of it. For so long, high fashion trends have been exclusive to major celebrities and glamorized through various forms of media.  We are here to reinvent what it means to be high fashion and make it accessible to everyone through inclusivity. Instead of a mainstream celebrity on the front page, we are bringing the digital creators to the spotlight, and capturing them in an editorial way that’s unique to their self-expression.

BLERR Magazine’s work has been shared on the largest social media platform, @TIKTOK  @tiktokcreators LGBTQ+ Trailblazers with The Goddess Boys, “@RJChumbley” and “@BeingADP '' garnishing 6-Million views! 

When producing our cover, the focus was finding the balance of femininity and masculine energy, expressing beyond gender norms, and becoming more fluid in how we present ourselves. Our identity is our own canvas and we have the opportunity to use as many art mediums as necessary to express who we are. Dress with vibrant colors, wear floral perfume and prance with confidence because life is meant to be explored and discovered.

"This was a happy closing introduction moment and memory because it is beyond wild to see how far the magazine and support has grown over the course of a couple of months. A magazine idea that started out with cover mock-ups has manifested BLERR into getting out first cover done with a team I have got to known and befriend in my freshman year at university. Every single one cover team member including the Goddess boys, Rielle Oase, and Brandon Layman, they are forever in my heart for taking a chance on beginning journey and will be forever founding partners of BLERR." 

Too often, the art that is created by people of color or queer creatives is overlooked or takes a backseat to that of more mainstream creators. Not to mention, these communities are the most impacted by current major social issues taking place in this country. It’s time these communities have a space solely dedicated to the unapologetic telling of their own narratives. BLERR intends to truly challenge what it means to be a diverse digital platform that pays attention to and stands with these communities and can authentically tell their stories. We don’t just stand with them, we are them.

Our current team consists of hardworking and multitalented women, POC, and queer interns. In addition, we have also partnered with several collaborators and creatives that have assisted us with adding content to our first issue. Through this campaign, we are looking to raise money to adequately pay our contributors and team who have generously donated their time for the making of this magazine's first issue.

Phoenix Editorial Team

Left - Right: Roxanne Banuelos, Sarah Karam, Sam Johnson, Faith Blackshear, Walt Campbell, Daryl Bland

Bottom: Justine Lavilla, Savaunna Shyanne, Alex Clapham, Jacob Nguyen, Anitah Diggs

Trish Delleva "Teaplnt," Summer Horchem, Alyssa Copham, Ashley Holmes, Dawson Dobbelaire, Swathi Saseedhar

London

Olivia Neath

Los Angeles

ISSUE 01 Cover Editorial Team

Lorena Witte, Marissa Marie, Claire Sheriff, Ashley Holmes, Daryl Bland, Rielle Oase, Brandon Layman

Our team has been working on our first issue for eight months straight in this tough time of the COVID-19 pandemic. With limited resources, space, and money, we have slowly curated a magazine with over 100 individuals, with and without modeling backgrounds, 30+ creatives who contributed to photography, design, videography, and mentorship.

With your support, we can expand our reach and elevate the magazine to greater heights, which will be a huge step for the LGBTQIA-POC community.

Our List of Contributors

Rielle Oase (Photographer) | Brandon Layman (Film Director / Videographer) | Troy Dyllan Allen (Designer) |  Lorena Witte (Designer) | Claire Sheriff (Film Photographer) | Ashley Holmes (Art Director) | Anitah Diggs (Photographer) | Alex Clapham (Graphic Designer) | Trish Delleva (Director / Photographer) | Fatih Blackshear (Director) | Aaron Markus ( Film Photographer) | Brenton Jones (Designer) | Jeff Otto (Photographer) | June Hucko (Artist, Film Photographer) | Raina Virginia (Photographer) | Summer Horchem (Stylist and Film Photographer) | Colleen Quinn (Stylist) | Ryan Laurent (Photographer) | Christian Sol (Designer) | Dallas Mackenzie (Photographer) | Aubree Tippetts (Photographer) | Sebastian Vargas (Artist) | Amber Andeson (Designer) | Kaden Dawson (Photographer / Director) | Walt Campbell (Writer) | Roxanne Banuelos (Writer)| Norrell Blair (Photographer) | Olivia Neath (Graphic Designer) | Alyssa Copham (Videographer / Photographer) | Kip Sloane (Writer)| Sam Johnson (Film Photographer) | Geraldine Cueva (Mentor / Community Motivator) | James Mack (3D Animator / Art Director) | Vikki Colvin (Owner Gray Atelier Studio) | Ryan Snell (Graphic Artist) | India Purnell (Stylist) | Phillip Holmes (Mentor / Community Motivator) | Codi Dillion (Artist / Photographer) | Magdalene Lunbery (Designer / Creative Director) | Sarah Hermos (Brand Consultant / Graphic Designer) | Marissa Marie (Event Coordinator)

BLERR ISSUE 01

BLERR's first issue will center around visual themes that address the climate of the world regarding the covid-19, sustainability, and the new era of digital niche creators. Below is our first photographed theme focused on "Confinement" - a struggling time of being confined in our living spaces. This theme reflects concrete walls that kept our mind confined during the crisis. 

Editorial Board

Daryl Bland | Founder / Creative Director 

Ashley Holmes | Art Director (Not in Photos)

Jacob Nguyen | Branding Director

Anitah Diggs | Social Media Director / Photographer

Alex Clapham | Head Graphic Designer

Savaunna Shyanne | Public Relations Director

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The Founder

Daryl Bland (Editor-in-Chief / Creative Director)

Daryl has founded BLERR Magazine in 2019, dreaming of “what if I created a magazine.” It was a thought in the moment that manifested into a team creating BLERR’s first issue during the height of the pandemic. 

Daryl Bland is a multi-media critical creative in photography, social media, and artistic aesthetics, who has worked with brands like EXPRESS Men, created a fragrance business Osai Fragrances, and worked with large digital niche influencers. 

"As an LGBTQ genderfluid Filipino artist, my support system comes along from my beautiful family who is always uplifting me to reach for my dreams and to keep believing that anything is achievable. Seeing my sisters becoming a ranking officer in South Korea, becoming an esthetician, another growing her family, and brother venturing into their passion has sparked me to strive to create something for myself and community." 

We are looking at producing a bi-annual magazine and smaller monthly zines that will give our readers substance. We want the reader wanting to grab our magazine for inpso, encouragment, insight, and art work. We work with individuals who never modeled, art work that has never been placed on an exhibition, and writers who want a voice. 

Where are funds being allocated

What does that look like exactly? Glad you asked, let me walk you through it.

Compensate Contributors | We want to be the magazine that compensates our contributors and team who have dedicated their time towards our magazine. We value our creatives that already struggle with the gender-queer POC pay gap in the creative industry. This means paying every photographer, graphic designer, artist, and even our models. Over our time building up to the first issue, we want to thank and compensate our past contributors who believed in us and took their time without pay to help us create a beautiful piece of art.  Many project rates can vary from $75.00 to $2000.00 depending on who we are working with or where we are traveling to shoot; whether that being a studio, multi-media artist, or model(s) by their time, volume, and value of work with us.

Magazine Production | We are producing an incredibly gorgeous quality publication, our magazine is $25.00. That $25.00 will be used in the future of the next issue to pay for producing, shipping, paying future contributors, team, our office space, and a percentage back into our communities.

Community | For every purchase and contribution to our magazine, we are dedicated to reserve a percentage that we will use to build a scholarship foundation and community fund to help LGBTQIA-POC individuals that are on a path to building their creative business and foundations.  

"As a founder, I understand the struggle of building something that I truly believe in from my own pocket. I love seeing others succeed and I want to make it possible for others who are in need of a push for the world to see." - Founder, Daryl Bland

Budget of Operations | Funding will help with production, marketing/advertising, and our general operation as a whole. We are looking at renting an office-studio space, as well as supplies and equipment such as computers, drives, desktops, etc. Our team from the start has been dedicating every ounce of their time putting in work to make this magazine a possibility with the resources and knowledge that they have. We want to create a space for us to create and develop work in an environment beyond our bedrooms and living spaces. We believe in producing quality work and are truly grateful for our dedicated team who believes in BLERR and continue to work hard to put our vision to physical copies.

Investing in us, is an investment into the unseen and need to be seen faces of LGBTQIA-POC community.

The proceeds of this pre-seed fundraiser are a jumping-off catalyst for BLERR Magazine to gradually expand from a hobby dream into a physical media company for the LGBTQIA-POC brand it’s growing into. With your support, we will be able to cover costs and move forward into building future issues. Thank you so much for taking the time to read a little about us, your support means a ton to us, and every name who took the time to donate is embedded in our hearts.

If BLERR looks like an LGBTQIA +POC business you would want to invest in, buy from our artists and photographers to support and it will also go into investing in BLERR!