New magazine outlet in London
The closure of Borders left a huge hole in London’s magazine infrastructure, not to mention the rest of the UK and the US. We’ve tried to help plug that gap with our crowd-sourced map of magazine stores (for London, the UK and, rather ambitiously, the world – see it here) and in a more hands-on way through our small online shop.
But bigger news for magaholics has arrived. High street chain Paperchase is trialling a magazine department at its flagship Tottenham Court Road branch from 1 February. Their main lines of stationary and greetings cards are sympathetic to magazines, and the stock list – including Pin-Up, Apartamento, Wrap, Port, Oh Comely and Uppercase – shows promise.
We need this experiment to work. I encourage anyone in London to get down there next week and help make the department a success. And if they don’t have what you want ask for it.
Buy buy buy!
CR column: mono.kultur interview
My latest column for Creative Review is an interview with Kai von Rabenau, the graphic designer-turned-photographer-turned-publisher behind one of my favourite current magazines, mono.kultur. Kai explains how the magazine came into being and reveals his ideal subjects for future editions.
Overmatter 24.01.12
The Radio Times apologies for failing to spot cheeky Royal Marine penis.
How US Esquire came through publishing’s dark days.
New app software lovingly recreates the page-flicking/page-turning experience of a real book. Waste of time?
Matt Curtis, designer behind The Times supplement Eureka, has a website featuring lots from the magazine plus the occasional find.
Out now: Green Soccer Journal
Despite being a mad keen football fan since childhood I never really enjoyed kids football magazines (though I do remember having the little cardboard league tables with interchangeable tabbed team names that were published at the start if each season). Like so much sports coverage they were ahead of the publishing curve in the sense they too often descended to overawed celebrity worship. Even with today’s football magazines there’s a set agenda of celebs, top 100 lists and stats. So it’s good to see a few alternatives out there – Sepp from Germany, Spiel from Liverpool and London’s Green Soccer Journal. (and not forgetting The Blizzard, as Mathew points out in his comment).
The third GSJ is out now – here are some of the highlights that make it special for me.
Magazine review for Monocle24
This perfectly styled coffee set me up for my magazine review on a recent episode of Monocle24’s Review show. I discussed Head Full of Snakes, Menu, mono.kultur and Bloomberg Businessweek.
You can hear the show here (January 14); I’m on from about 40 mins in.
Adobe DPS wins?
While busy with the latest Port iPad app I’ve taken my eye off DPS developments at Adobe, so a quick catch-up session at their Maidenhead offices last week provided some useful insight.
Overmatter 20.01.12
An interesting analysis of how creative ‘best-of’ lists contrast with best-seller lists. A reminder that sales are affected by more than front cover design.
The New York Times investigates the cult of Tyler.
Behind the scenes at Australia’s Collect magazine (video).
Bauer Media settle on a new recruitment method – reality TV.
Culture clash – collected elements from Japanese magazines.
SPD final deadline
The imminent final deadline reminds me of one element of this years SPD Awards I’ve been meaning to highlight here – the new category covering smaller/independent magazines. This is something close to my heart and one of the reasons I took on the co-chair role of this years awards. SPD have always catered well for the larger mags; now there’s the chance for the smaller mags to feature too.
Not just as winners – obviously a limited number can win – but also by being included in the SPD book. At present there’s a whole area of publishing omitted from the annual. It would be great to see a selection of independent maagzines in there too. And unlike other awards this one is remarkably cheap; $35 + postage.
If you’ve not considered entering, it isn’t too late. Your entries need to be postmarked 20 Jan latest.
Download the details and form here.
The Good Times
Here’s a first sight of the front cover of The Good Times, which will be distributed in London today. Created by the Church of London team over the last seven days, the tabloid newspaper seeks to cheer up the city on the day reckoned to be the most depressing in the year. Check this map to see where you can collect a copy. Copies will also be available in Leeds, and GmBH in Glasgow will have copies later in the week
If you’re further afield, all orders received by the magCulture shop this week (Monday 16 – Friday 20) will also be sent a copy of the magazine.
Guardian redesign
Having largely remained the same since the 2005 multiple-award-winning redesign, this week sees a revamp of The Guardian. Essentially a cost-cutting exercise – subscribers received a detailed email outlining the reductions in daily sections last week – one positive change is this adaptation of the masthead and reworking of the front page to permit an above-the-fold image. Designed by the newspaper’s ex-design director Mark Porter.
Amusing update from Roy Greenslade.
