June 2019
From broadsheet to handbook-sized, and from the future of food to the love of shoes, our quick overview of magazines received last month demonstrates again the variety present on the indie scene. Enjoy!
i-D Limited Edition #3, SS19
This reimagining of several recent issues of i-D throws a nod back to the magazines’s cut-and-paste days with an unbound series of poster-sized images, including covers featuring Rebecca Longendyke, Solange Knowles and Greta Thunberg. Reassuringly lo-fi, it’s a lovely bit of print overseen by longstcanding creative director Graham Roundthwaite.
i-d.vice.com
Crumble #4
Crumble’s fourth issue, titled ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’, hosts an international critique on architecture through the frame of comfort and belonging, with a wry nod to the BBC’s ‘Listen with Mother’. The magazine’s distinctive two-colour illustration style and risograph printing have changed format slightly – its page size has shrunk and is now perfect-bound, making it even more comfortable to hold and read.
crumblemag.com
Gayletter #10
Even the major label fashion adverts are camp in this magazine paying homage to everything gay. Featuring quirky and sarcastic writing; glamorous and scantily-clad photoshoots; and a huge cover star in the shape of Frank Ocean photographed by Collier Schorr; this magazine wears its heart and its colours on its sleeve.
gayletter.com
Returntrip #1
This neat new magazine from Toronto seeks a new take on travel, but the result is a little disparate. There’s a good mix of subjects and places, and some strong tales of personal experience (a young aupair’s list of ten events from her year in Switzerland), but overall it’s a little unfocused.
returntrip.ca/
Sko #1
It takes a magazine like Sko coming along to make us stop and question why we’ve not seen any independent magazines about shoes before? Filled with spotlights on shoes in culture, movies, design and the obvious fetish, there is also plenty of imagery juxtaposing shoes with food or charity shop paraphernalia. It’s a strong theme and a strong start.
skojournal.com
Backstage Talks #4
Dropping their cover list of famous design names in favour of the repeated statement ‘Designers have to stop being stupid’ is a bold new direction for this design magazine as it tilts more towards business. That the quote highlights an interview with the designer behind one of our least favourite online experiences, Basecamp, is made up for by the presence of luminaries such as Paula Scher, Tony Brook and Peter Bilak.
backstagetalks.com
King Kong Garçon #2
The first King Kong Garçon made a splash by filling a gap on the fashion shelf with its elaborate yet dark and homoerotic photoshoots. This one continues that theme and pushes the boundaries of what you can do with some whip-smart writing, anarchic fashion styling, and it doesn’t hurt to have a plethora of very good looking people inside either.
kingkongmagazine.com
Papier #7
Each issue of the illustration magazine Papier is themed; this one is Feminism. The editors note that few women receive accolades for their illustration, and few men explore the subject of feminism in their illustration. Giving carte blanche to twenty four illustrators to explore the theme of feminism, this French publication attempts to redraw the balance and create a feast for your eyes with its many varied contributions.
papiermagazine.com
Art of Conversation #3
Presenting conversations between pairs of creative types, the appeal of the broadsheet newspaper-style publication relies on those people and their pairings. The conversations are reproduced verbatim, and I enjoyed the one between Jamie Reid and Julian Temple, but the design lacks the visual panache of fellow broadsheets Good Trouble and Civilization.
Mold #4
This NYC magazine is one of our most challenging food titles, covering the future of what we eat. This issue deals with how food embraces all our senses, addressing scientific and philosophical approaches to how we might add the sensual to developing food technologies. The bright, modern design and art direction strengthens the message.
thisismold.com