I’m obsessed with magazines. O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D. My apartment’s cluttered with them and I work for one. So when Magpile– a wiki-style database of magazines- announced the shortlist for it’s awards, celebrating the very best of editorial design, new publications and independent magazines, I thought I would share 10 of the most beautiful and interesting publications (and my favourites) out there right now. Who said print was dead?
(You can read a Q&A with Magpile founder Dan Rowden in a previous post here and don’t forget to see Magpile’s shortlist here.)
Cereal is a quarterly food, drink and travel magazine that contains edible topics, travel destinations, as well as profiles on products, people and places. In Volume One, for example, they looked at a Nordic food lab aboard a boat, the tradition of using carrots as sweeteners, and the nostalgia of milk. You can read my interview with the editor Rosa Park here.
A bi-monthly, independent movie magazine that features cutting edge writing, illustration and photography to get under the skin of cinema.
They say: “Because movies don’t exist in a vacuum, we venture beyond the boundaries of the big screen, exploring the worlds of music, art, politics and pop culture to inform and illuminate the medium we love.”
3. Apartamento
A publication which delves into people’s homes. “For too many people, being happy at home is pretty much an abstract idea, something they can’t know or imagine, until it appears on some taste maker’s must-have list, or in a magazine, or reposted on Tumblr. A home sweet home is not curated or produced by acquiring a perfect arrangement of chairs, lamps and friends. A real living space is made from living, not decorating. A bored materialist can’t understand that a house has to become a home. It happens, not through perfection but by participation.”
4. Offscreen
Offscreen offer an in-depth look at the life and work of digital creators. It tells the less obvious human stories of creativity, passion and hard work that hide behind every interface.
The Gentlewoman is a biannual style magazine for a new decade. Featuring inspirational, international women, it pairs ambitious journalism with a sartorial and intelligent perspective on fashion that is focused on personal style – the way women actually look, think and dress.
6. Cat People
CAT PEOPLE is a bilingual (English/Japanese) magazine featuring 146 pages of interviews and work by cat-obsessed artists, designers, photographers and writers.
Hole & Corner celebrates craft, beauty, passion and skill. It’s about people who spend more time ‘doing’ than ‘talking’, who put content above style, whose work is their life. Through a bi-annual print magazine and a daily updated digital alternative, we aim to promote local trade and talented individuals, whether professional or amateur, exploring and celebrating the landscape that inspires them.
8. Riposte
Riposte is a smart magazine for women. We’re a new magazine which offers intelligent content and inspirational women in a beautifully designed format. We profile bold and fascinating women whose achievements speak for themselves. Our interviews are honest rather than being full of media trained responses, as the women we feature candidly discuss their successes, failures, work and passions.
Another Escape is an independently published magazine that is inspired by individuals who are creative and inquisitive. We aim to be inspiring, uplifting and insightful, offering our readers the opportunity to discover something new.
10. Gratuitous Type
Gratuitous Type, a pamphlet of typographic smut, celebrates the letter in all its forms. Featuring artists across a wide array of disciplines, locations, and aesthetic styles, it provides a voyeuristic look into the practices of our favorite letter-makers.
