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Monocle Mediterraneo

Monocle’s one-off newspaper Monocle Mediterraneo is published later this week. Earlier today I had the chance to talk to founder/editor-in-chief (or ‘Admiral of the Fleet’ as the tongue-in-cheek credits have it) Tyler Brulé and find out a bit more about the project.

First up, though, a quick look at it. The 300 x 460mm newsprint publication runs to 64 pages and is packed with content. The Monocle team have transferred the same typography and design approach to the larger format and it almost works better than the parent magazine does. Brulé admitted as much, referring in our interview to the difficulty of returning to the relatively small pages of the magazine for the upcoming September issue.

So what’s the story behind the new venture? Firstly, Brulé wanted to fill the summer gap when the double July/August issue leaves a significant amount of time without a new issue on the shelves. ‘Last year we bridged that period with our eight-part Summer Series podcast, but we wanted to do a little more this year and fill the text/image gap too. We considered adding an eleventh issue (they take a winter break with a combined Dec/Jan issue too) but also considered how our readers live over the summer’. During a break earlier this year, Brulé found himself observing poolside media consumption. ‘I was by the pool in Hawaii, watching Americans, Koreans and Japanese, and none were reading screens.’ The issue of summer lifestyle is a key one – the new publication even describes itself as ‘a completely sun, water, tanning oil and sweat-friendly print media project’ on its front page. This has been a much-discussed issue for the iPad but nobody’s met it head on like this yet.

So the idea of a newsprint publication took shape – a paper that ‘can get wet and be dried without getting spoiled’ according to Brulé. Not just any newsprint, mind, as I am reminded when I ask whether the choice of paper stock was part of a more general trend toward newsprint. ‘I think you’ll see more newsprint around, yes, but it won’t all be sheetfed 80gsm,’ was Brulé’s slightly sharp response. The Monocle world is a premium one. ‘People love newsprint – I was working in our London shop last weekend and we sold 70 copies to people who were commenting on the feel of the paper and the smell of the pages. We’re interested in that type of tactile engagement.’ He has an impressive belief in print, and describes the newspaper as a political project, set to ‘to remind people how great print is, especially today when there is so little innovation from bigger publishers.’ It’s refreshing to hear someone not only sound positive but acting on his beliefs too.

But is Monocle Mediterraneo more than a quick gimmick? The simple answer is yes. I was a fan of the magazine at launch but have regreted its sameness since.  The newspaper appears to have provided a creative filip, allowing the team to break out of the straitjacket of the monthly and be a little more playful. Perhaps it’s the summer mood, but there’s more humour here, from the team credits list on. And there’s enough reading to last you a couple of days by the pool. My only criticism from a creative standpoint is that the text size is a bit small for so much content on a page.

Financially it seems to make sense too – Brulé describes it as a surprise success that wasn’t in the business plan earlier this year. Already, a second edition is being planned for the January break.

Meanwhile, Brulé doesn’t discount a Monocle iPad app for the future but is content to wait and see what others do, ‘The tablet is just a platform. We have money to invest but I’d rather put that into content. We’ve just opened a Hong Kong bureau, have employed more journalists inLondon and are looking at opening a bureau in Brazil. There’s so groundswell of readers wanting an iPad edition yet, so we’ll wait and see.’

Monocle Mediterraneo is a one-off available for eight weeks from this Thursday throughout the Mediterranean (Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Lebanon) and in key cities including Singapore, Hong Kong and London.