A bi-monthly magazine rooted in a different city each issue
A magazine about the people that make their city special
Amazing writing
Amazing photography
Simple, elegant design
Thick, matt finish
Collectible
Sanaa, Yemen
Tehran, Iran
Kabul, Afghanistan
Damascus, Syria
Beirut, Lebanon
Baghdad, Iraq
No front of book – Only features
Same design template and typeface throughout
A snapshot of a place in time
It may have come two months late, but last night a package was waiting for me at reception:
We Love Magazines, a must-have for any magazine fanatics. Produced by Gestalten a German creative agency that does everything from produce fonts to car commercials. We Love Magazines is edited by Andrew Losowsky and is an in-depth look at the magazine industry complemented with stunning graphics, chapters on groundbreaking magazines and a massive directory of the best independent magazines in the world. Well worth the wait.
Despite the torrid state of the international publishing industry, deals are still being made, particularly in this region, which is illustrated by the World Magazine Marketplace which is set to be held in Dubai on November 2-3. Organised by the catchily named International Federation of the Periodical Press (or FIPP), the event will see publishers from around the world descending on Dubai. Attendees include Future Publishing, Northern and Shell, Edipresse, IDG and SPH from Singapore. Hopefully they will be too busy making deals to read the local magazines, which are by and large, appalling.
Picked up Antenna magazine for the first time today – very impressed – they do so much in an original way and their product shoots are excellent. They also can make a very random subject into a brilliant graphic page, such as below. Kudos to whoever came up with that idea. Not a chance of getting away with that in Dubai – absolute creative freedom is something I hope to enjoy one day, preferably in the US….
Magforum reports that Cosmo are going to carry a section for men in its November issue. Not really sure what the point of this move it – presumably its to attract advertisers. But men read Cosmo as it is, they do not need a sub-Esquire insert to make it more palatable. NatMags tried this 30 years ago – it didn’t work then, and editorially at least, its hard to see it working now.
Speaking of men’s mags, I saw a magazine called Fantastic Man in Borders the other day. My first thought was that it was a local magazine – never a good sign – but turns out it is published in Europe. Not quite sure how I feel about it yet. Front page does nothing for me although the finish is beautiful – similar to TMF’s Thai Airway’s inflight, Sawasdee.
It tries to be high-end without appearing to try to be high-end, but fails miserably. Interview with Tyler Brule was a missed opportunity with the writer’s first person observations extremely irritating. While some of the design works – nice FOB piece on the Biro – a lot of it doesn’t and the weird use of upper case for names and brands gets annoying.
Maybe it will grow on me, but so far, it’s anything but fantastic.
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