January 2020
Our monthly Coverage overview of recent arrivals at the shop returns, with a January-friendly focus on sport including football, skateboarding and tennis. Plus vaping, luxury, and ‘hands that impart flavour’.
Family Portrait #1
From the publishers of True comes a contemporary photography magazine as lush as a coffee-table book. The contributing photographers (who include Coco Capitán, Brendan Freeman and Laura Jane Coulson) have teamed up to produce a beautiful selection of their work, all of it summer-y and light – the perfect January antidote.
OH–SO #4
The latest issue of Stack’s launch of the year offers another boldly designed journey through women’s skateboarding. The design reflects the positivity of the interviewees, all of whom share inspirational stories to encourage other girls to take up the sport.
Where the Leaves Fall #2
This recent launch from the team behind North London free mag Village Raw is dedicated to connecting our urbanised, human world to the natural one. This second issue largely looks at death, journey and seeds, taking a conscious approach to the social and environmental implications of human traditions that are more linked to nature than we might first think.
Racquet #12
One for tennis fans and pop culturalists alike; the sport is viewed through a cultural prism that ranges from a look at how advertising co-opted the sport toan Arthur Ashe-inspired fashion shoot. Their covers are always – sorry – ace, and this one by Jonas Wood is no exception.
Soft Punk #1
An intriguing launch issue for a literary/arts magazine seeking to express what it is to be a young person in our tumultuous, contemporary times. The open-ended nature of the brief allows for a looser, more free feel than other mags that mix writing and image-making. Not 100% successful but a promising first issue.
Dispensa #11
The independent Italian food mag is as indulgent and impassioned as ever, with texts printed in both the original Italian as well as English. The biannual publication has been printed on paper made from food waste and contains no advertisements. This issue looks at food through a lens of bacteria, traces and ‘hands that impart flavour and personality’.
Yes & No, 03:02
A typically eclectic mix of content from the quarterly arts mag leads with photographer Brigitte Lacombe’s black cat, reports on the new wave of indigenous Canadian film-making, and looks back at eighties art provocateurs The Grey Organisation. All presented with drametic shifts of pace and scale from art director Jeremy Kunze.
Eight by Eight
This issue of the US soccer mag includes a 27-page spread titled ‘The Greatness Factor’, a celebration of the greatest players of all time. Cover star Pelé is of course featured in the top ten, but a few surprises crop up later down the list. Read on for a playful piece on Lucy Bronze, one of the stars of last year’s World Cup. As ever, wonderful photography and illustrations feature throughout the mag.
California Sunday Magazine, Feb 2020
Another excellent issue opens with a guide to their live event sister project Pop-Up Magazine and an overview of developments around facial recognition technology, before taking on the ‘largely unregulated world’ of vaping. It closes with a photo report about Filipinos working abroad. An essential series of stories beautifully compiled and art directed.
Press & Fold #2
The second issue of Press & Fold is just as good, if not better, than the first. Complete with a centrefold of cut-out patterns basic enough to adapt to any shape or size, the Amsterdam-based mag takes an alternative approach to fashion publishing. This issue is framed around luxury, asking: what constitutes it? why should we critique it? And, perhaps most importantly, what does the future hold?