Remembering Blitz magazine
My first magazine job was art directing eighties style mag Blitz, a magazine that has largely been overshadowed by The Face and i-D since. These two were launched by experienced industry figures – i-D’s Terry Jones was previously Vogue art director and Nick Logan had edited NME and Smash Hits before launching The Face – while Blitz started as a student magazine at Oxford University before moving to London and going glossy. The Face and i-D lasted longer thanks to backing from Condé Nast (and later EMAP) and Time Out respectively, while the young owners of Blitz rather foolhardily went it alone.
Fantastic Man do the East London Line
Top marks to Penguin for not only publishing a set of books celebrating the 150th anniversary of the London Underground (twelve, one for each Tube line), but for going beyond the predictable in selecting writers for each line. Music writer Paul Morley (Bakerloo), kids campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh (Victoria) and naturalist Richard Mabey (Metropolitan) all figure. And who better to deal with the East London Line, which snakes through Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Hoxton and Haggerston, than Jop and Gert from Fantastic Man?
Fully Booked: Ink on Paper
An exhibition to accompany magCulture contributor Andrew Losowsky’s new book about book design opens in Berlin later this month (March 14– April 21, Gestalten Space, Sophie-Gips-Höfe, Sophienstraße 21, 10178). The book includes book design by A Practice for Everyday Life, Irma Boom, Joost Grootens, Julia Hasting, Leftloft, Made Thought and Studio Laucke Siebein and is out now. I’m looking forward to seeing a copy. The exhibition flyer above is an adaptation of the witty cover.
Magtastic 5: Books for magazine people
Andrew Losowsky surveys recent magazine-related design books
In my day job, I’m currently the Books Editor at The Huffington Post, and I even have a book of my own about to come out, ‘Fully Booked’ (Gestalten), about how print book design has reacted to the rise of digital media. So it seems appropriate that I take a look at a few books that have come out in the last 12 months or so, which might interest the discerning magCulture reader.
Building Stories
I’ve been really enjoying ‘Building Stories’ by graphic artist Chris Ware. It’s an astonishing piece of storytelling, billed as a graphic novel but actually a set of fourteen different printed items delivered in the above box.
Ten things to look out for in 2013
• The continued reworking of UK Harper’s Bazaar by Marissa Bourke.
• The redesign of Wallpaper* by recently appointed creative director Sarah Douglas (with art director Lee Belcher).
• Issue two of indie motorbike mag Head Full of Snakes.
• This years AGI Open conference, here in London this September.
• The reinvention of of US Wired by new editor-in-chief Scott Dadich.
• The Guardian entering its post-Mark Porter era with Alex Breuer as creative director.
• Sadly, more publishers responding in idiotic fashion to closures.
• While others continue to launch exciting new titles (check last year’s launches).
• A new magazine conference taking place in Munich at the end of February, news to come.
• And lastly a shameless plug: the publication of my new book ‘The Modern Magazine’ in September.
Local news
Before I sign off for the holidays, some quick updates.
Printout!
The next Printout! takes place on January 22, when we’ll be looking at new magazines for the new year. If you’re launching/have just launched/know of a new independent magazine please get in touch with Steve or me.
Making Magazines 2012
This day-long conference at St Brides was a personal highlight of 2012. As several people have pointed out, Simon and I promised a follow-up publication as a memento for all attendees. We haven’t forgotten, it’s been harder than expected to get it completed but the good news is it’s in production and should go to print early 2013. Something to look forward to!
The Modern Magazine
I’ve just completed a new book to be published in 2013 by Laurence King. More news nearer publication date.
Exhibitions
Two exhibition projects I helped with continue over into the new year. Graphic Design: Now in Production is in its last few weeks at the Hammer Museum, LA, while at Helsinki’s Design Museum The Home continues until January 13. And The Rise of Print is available for further venues in 2013.
magCulture shop
All orders to date have been mailed. Any placed over the holidays will be sent out early January. And talking of the shop, it’ll be expanding early next year with a new partner. Full details next year.
Merry Christmas
Thank you as ever for sending in your magazines, for reading the posts and using the shop. We’ll be helping you through the holidays with a daily dose of recent arrivals here at magCulture.
Have a good break.
Holiday cover above via Newmanology.
Out now: Duf #3
It’s been a long time coming – I first mentioned it here over a year ago – but the third edition of Duf has landed and is as gorgeous as the first two were.
Overmatter 30.11.12
Grazia launches an iPad app with built in ecommerce linked to various online stores. Created using Pugpig.
Condé Nast magazines feature an odd cover addition promoting Windows 8; each one customised to refer to the carrying magazine but apparently not a paid-for arrangement. Rather nasty on my issue of The New Yorker.
See the work of New York Times Magazine art director Gail Bichler.
Eye is disappointed by Wet magazine retrospective.
Monocle are holding their Christmas Market at their Marylebone offices this weekend.
Overmatter 25.11.11
Some Christmas book ideas for magCulturalists.
The Chapman Brothers design the front cover of the Horror edition of Granta.
David Hepworth pinpoints the problem of PRs and their need for control, ‘A journalist provided with no raw material is far more likely to make up the deficit in meanness’.
‘Publishing has become an essential tool for keeping customers close…’. Harvard Business Review proposes brands need editor-in-chiefs.
Talking of which, here are the 28 winners from this week’s International Content Marketing Awards. Congratulations all, but especially to my friends at Het Salon and the Church of London. And here’s an overview from organiser Julia from APA.
The shortlists for the second Digital Magazine Awards.
Stack want to know what you think – fill in their survey.
