Overmatter
The return of The Manipulator, the A1 magazine last seen in the eighties (thanks Guilherme).
The next issue of OK Periodical will be all about he Body. You can submit material here.
A selection of World Cup infographics from avrious magazines, newspapers (thanks Warren).
Editor writes eulogy for his late magazine – PC Zone, the first gaming mag. Look out for Charlie Brooker in pix.
POD service magCloud goes international, adds iPad app (thanks Andrew).
The Green Soccer Journal
Thankfully we English can still mix it with the Germans in terms of independent football magazines if not in the sport itself. Following the recent post about Berlin’s Sepp, here’s the pilot issue of England’s The Green (or The Green Soccer Journal to give it its full title).
L’Uomo Vogue
The summer issue of L’Uomo Vogue is a World Cup special, as football continues its wealthy love-in with fashion. This shot of England manager Fabio Capello shows him far more comfortable in his own jacket than the sponsored M&S suit he’s been having to wear recently. Elsewhere, Spanish midfielder Andrés Iniesta is shown looking rather camp at the Nou Camp and Italy’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon sports a painted moustache, while the England squad are ignored altogether.
Sepp
Named after FIFA chief Sepp Blatter, Sepp magazine is published from Munich Berlin every two years to coincide with the alternating FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championships. Edited by Markus Ebner and fashion super-journalist Godfrey Deeny, and art directed by the talented Mirko Borsche, it deals with football and fashion – once unlikely companions but increasingly finding themselves in, ahem, the same team.
Soccer, offense, defense
I love the New Yorker but this week it does that rare thing: misses the point.
Great though it was to flick through the issue and find a piece about the imminent World Cup, opening with this DPS shot of US goalkeeper Tim Howard in action, I knew the piece would be problematic. Americans don’t get football. At least they don’t get the English approach to football. It’s not just the language – the name of the game for a start, and the transfer of US Football terms likes ‘offense’ – it’s the complex love-hate relationship English football fans have with their national team.
When it comes to the crunch, most fans would put their club team ahead of England. We’ve learnt not to expect much from the national team, but the biannual international competitions are a useful diversion to fill the summer downtime between football seasons. Following England, it’s the narrative of failure that endures. We relive stories of where we were when that penalty was missed and recall 1990 when the team almost made the final. Remember Michael Owen’s wonder-goal against Argentina in the match we eventually, yes, lost? The Carvalho-Rooney soap opera that saw Ronaldo helping get Rooney sent off?
I’m not sure we could cope if Lampard, Gerrard and co actually did win the thing. There’s a very real danger that would spoil the fun.
As, in a way, would seeing a perfect Anglocentric outlook on football in the New Yorker.
UPDATE: More here from David Hepworth (faulty link corrected).
The curse of GQ
No sooner had I posted the Rio cover he got injured and won’t take part in the World Cup. Now it looks like being involved in the GQ special is cursed, with Didier Drogba having an emergency operation for a broken arm and missing the start if not all the competition.
With Cesc Fabregas already struggling to be fit it’s not looking good for Ronaldo or Capello. Watch this space.
Rio leads the way
magCulture nods its head to the England team as they board their plane to South Africa, as British GQ nods its head to the whole event with a series of five covers featuring UK-orientated international football figures, including this one of Rio Ferdinand by Nick Wilson. Also in the set: Wilson’s Fabio Capello and Simon Emett’s shots of Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo and Cesc Fabregas.
Overmatter
A detail from the new Times website: about halfway down the home page there’s a clock featured as part of the engraving marking the ‘leading articles’ section. This engraving is a traditional part of the print edition, but here on the web the clock actually tells the real time. Nice!
While we’re on The Times, lots of coverage for the new websites: Eye points out its newspaper-like qualities in a positive fashion, while others question them for the same reason. And don’t even get people started on the paywall. Watch out for the next EDO event, featuring a close-up look at the soon-to-arrive iPad App from the same newspaper and design team. Perhaps that gives a clue to the new sites newspaper-like look?
The June issue of Creative Review includes my review of magazine iPad Apps to date.
It’s a tough life: footballer Christiano Ronaldo is apparently angry to have been Photoshopped together with rival Didier Drogba for the current Vanity Fair cover (see previous post).
The Preston is My Paris team have more publications out now, and have sorted PayPal for orders.
Jens has a close-up look at the latest issue of 032c.
Footballers fly their flags
June’s Vanity Fair has an Annie Leibovitz portfolio of international football stars in their Y-fronts. Will there be a more bizarre World Cup story published this summer? The underwear matches each player’s international team flag – a Photoshop job I assume.
