Jessica Stalter
Snakes are not uncommon on the Florida Southern campus: the snake thrives in the Florida climate and Mocsie the mascot represents the central Florida campus.
However, the Snake Print Allison Rainey and her team have in mind is a little different.
The Snake Print is a fashion and culture magazine that takes a creative lens to different trends and issues in today’s culture.
It is created by a team of Florida Southern students wanting to provide other young adults with a platform for open-minded creativity.
“When I first came to Florida Southern I saw that my world is so much bigger than just my hometown. I wanted to create something that could give thinkers like myself a creative outlet that is uncensored,” creator of the magazine, Allison Rainey said.
Unlike most of the publications that circulate on the Florida Southern campus, the Snake Print is fully independent and student-ran. The creators of the magazine chose this method because it places priority on the creative team and allows them full creative rights and ownership of their own work explained by chief editor Isabelle Hancock.
“We believe with this publication we can produce unfiltered and relevant content,” said Hancock, who is a part of The Southern Newspaper’s social media team.
Rainey has had the idea of creating a fashion and culture magazine since her freshman year. Over time, she gained enough confidence in her idea to actually begin her project, largely after seeing a similar concept in a chapter-based student-led magazine called “Strike.” From there, Rainey was able to further develop her idea, especially seeing new perspectives through her time in quarantine to bring her concept to life. Quarantine was one of the major events that gave her the time to brainstorm her idea and decide to take action.
“With quarantine, we were stuck inside and the only thing we could do was think and reflect not the world around us. I want those thoughts from quarantine to spark a fire for Snake Print,” Rainey said.
Rainey, now a senior, has since gathered a group of other creative minds around herself to make the Snake Print a reality. The Snake Print has a whole team working behind it, including Rainey as creator, Sami Beason as creation lead, Hancock as chief editor, and Morgan Shelton as photography lead. The team still has many positions open for interested students that can be seen through their Instagram page “@snakeprintmagazine.” This Instagram page is also a way for students to get in contact with the staff.
The first issue of the Snake Print has a tentative release date set for November.
“I am so excited to start this project and create a platform that the young have control over. We have so many thoughts and we are the future of this world.” Rainey said.
Their team is currently looking to fill their staff and is unaffiliated with Florida Southern College. Allison Rainey says she wants to give full ownership of the work published to the publication’s team members.
Editor’s Note: Multiple editor’s on The Southern are affiliated with The Snake Print.
