I love magazines. And a great part why I love them is because of the cover. A good cover is necessary, it shows what the inside is about or tells a story of it's own. I've mentioned www.coverjunkie.com before, it's a large archive of magazines covers curated by Jaap Biemans. He recently selected the best magazine covers of 2011 and made this magazine out of it. He also asked designers to make a shortlist of their favourite 2011 magazine covers. These designers, the covers they selected and why are also inside this jam-packed magazine. It's a 'shout-out to creativity' as the introduction tells us.
Well, in short this magazines shows a striking collection of magazine covers you really should see. The covers tell stories of what happened this year, and at the same time shows the current state of visual culture. A pretty round-up for 2011 which is really nice to have!
How to make a magazine out of an O.K. Periodicals magazine! This instruction video shows you how to do it. Kick ass and we want to see all your Christmas trees!
If you don't have enough magazines to start with, order now (click on Shop) and we might add a present to your order. If you were nice this year ofcourse.
Sorry I've been so busy I didn't have time to review this "send in october magazine" earlier. Baltasar a magazine from our well known very cold but sunny Holland or even better The Netherlands. Eva van 't Loo send me an e-mail about her new magazine. Yes a new magazine again and I'm happy with it. Nobody can stop us from making magazines Yeehaa!
Balatasar is a magazine in the form of a newspaper. And this issue is all about animals, the magazine feels a little bit like the poezenkrant because of the simplicity of the subject, animals. Just animals, animal stories, animal pictures nothing more nothing less. Design of the magazine is very estatic and all the content gets a lot fo space. This, the subject and the design, makes Baltasar a light weight magazine. And because it's the first issue I'm very curious how it will evolve with the upcoming issues. When the new issue is in, I'll let you know!
http://www.evavantloo.com/baltasar/
A magazine with over hundred headscarfs. Each one has their own story to tell. Really inspiring and intriguing, the story behind it is almost as exciting as all the different patterns. Of course you can order it online, and there's currently also an exhibition on it in the Central Museum in Utrecht. Go, watch and learn!
Things have been busy at the studio so let's get it started with showing you what kind of amazing magazines and books we got recently.
Demo
An exciting newspaper/magazine which dares to show fullspread images in a sparkling design and similar photography. One bad thing about it: it has not enough pages, because it tastes for more!
DieNacht
We reviewed DieNacht magazine before. The magazine has a very good editorial content and a straightforward design which makes the content stand out very well. This issue is a 10-year anniversary edition. Extra pages and more content to love.
Indie Brands
This is a book with cases of independent brands which shook the world in their own special way. It covers brands like Tony's Chocolonely, Threadless, Wetransfer. Brands that have become succesfull by doing something different.
The cases are described very nice. The design of the book is simple. And maybe a bit boring actually. Each brand starts with the same kind of introduction page, followed by 1 or 2 spreads with images of their product or their studio. Could have been done more sparkling. Or maybe I'm just too grumpy about it.
Selected B
The second edition of Selected (hence, the B) has two volumes. One for student work, one for work by creative professionals. Categorized into the basic section (typography, posters, books, identity, etc) it shows work selected by judges formed especially for this book project.
The work has a great variety. They want to cover international project, but most projects seem to be coming from countries as Spain (where the book is published), Belgium, UK and the Netherlands.
The criteria of the judges are not always clear, and some things could have been left out. But hey, they didn't ask me! :)
Slanted
A gold/silver cover. Awesome! Slanted surprises every time again. Inside is harder to follow the path. But that's no problem once in a while. get this, Slanted is always a good read for type nerds.
Stadtlich
This citymagazine on the city of Hamburg releases a good newspaper every time as well.
Good topics, good content. Makes you want to go to Hamburg!
This is the quick flipthrough video of the new O.K. Periodicals / THRILLER issue!
Simply amazing. Only 500 copies printed and each one has an exclusive musical gadget inside. But much more pleasantly disruptive content to ease your curiosity.
So if you really love magazines. Or Art. Design. Literature. Illustrations. Discovering creative up-and-coming talent. Life in general. Be sure to order one of those 500 exclusive copies! (also a nice gift)
Little secret: Become a subscriber and get this issue for free!
We've been working hard on the next O.K. Periodicals. I can tell you, it looks fantastic. Again, even prettier than the previous ones. Quite different as well, as we did a little re-design for this THRILLER issue only. The content is ... oooh soooo nice. Can't wait to show it to you!
Right now it's being printed in Arnhem (Netherlands) and a special insert is being made in China!! I won't reveal what it is, but it is THRILLING ofcourse!
The official release is on saturday November 26th. More info about the special evening and party very soon. Keep yourself updated via this website or via our facebook/twitter channels.
Keep in touch!
William
A custom made cover, a handdrawn message inside, one copy in every 25 magazines has a golden envelope inside. And next to that a personal letter with your own word....with this word you've been asked to design a visual for the upcoming issue. All this made quite a impression on me a lot of work and a personal touch to connect with the reader that I haven't seen in a magazine before. Thumbs up for this.
The content of the magazine on the other hand is a hodge-podge. It's a theme based magazine but while reading the magazine I couldn't find the connection between all the written articles. The ideas behind the articles are good though.
The magazine is larger then A4 and has a colourful and clear style. All in all it's a fun to read and to look at magazine and as said before the personal touch is the strength of this magazine. For the second issue I hope the content and feel will be taken to a next level.
Published as an offshoot of Gio Ponti’s (1891-1979) legendary Italian Architecture, Furnishing and Art magazine Domus (founded in 1928), Stile Industria was Italy’s first and only magazine exclusively dedicated to Industrial Design (disegno industriale), Graphic Art (grafica) and Packaging Design (imballagio). Launched in June 1954, under the directorship of architect and designer Alberto Rosselli (1921-1976), when the controversial idea of “Industrial Design” was very new and unconvincing to Italian readers, this quarterly magazine published a total of 41 issues (including one double issue - May 1960, No. 26/27) until it ceased publication nearly 10 years later in 1963. Stile Industria promoted design as one of the most important cultural forces in modern Italy and provided a platform for discussions about the aesthetic and meaning of modern design in an international context. The covers were designed by a who’s who of post-war Italian and international graphic designers and artists who gave them their unmistakable Italian appearance.
Visit the website here.
A while ago I 'discovered' the Drawing Daily made by Steven Kraan on Facebook. Each day he posts a very funny short comic. And by very funny I mean, very very very funny-utterly-hilarious comics. His sort of 'innocent child-like' point of view, together with the curious drawings makes it that you get a dive in his wonderful world. Don't be surprised if you come across Jesus dropping his keys in the water (while walking over it ofcourse), a staircase calling 911 to commit a accidental murder, a giant cockroach asking for love or astronauts escaping on a pool table because they didn't bought an escape pod.
This sweet little zine gets a smile on your face. So first thing to do is to like his facebook page. Second thing to do is to order this zine. Because you will need it!
PS: on the first page Steven draws an unique comic especially for you!
Today is the last chance to contribute your work for the next O.K. Periodicals / Thriller issue.So if you have any work that feels related to the theme, visually or in words, feel free to submit.
We have a lot of awesome contributions and why should your work not be amongs them as well?
On the right side of this website is more info (click Submit)
'They' is a beautifully designed, one colour stencil-printed magazine. It features funny, interesting short texts by various writers.
What makes is also special is the use of images. Throughout the magazine the single coloured images (dark purple) intrigue in a beautiful way. Bits of the texts are projected over a woman; the same typography style in the images and graphic design makes it a whole. Which looks great!
It's a clear designed magazine, functional design, but I like it very much. This is one of those magazines you could come across at at the next O.K. Festival (or maybe we're going to use a new name as we might change the event in April 2012)
Get it here while it's hot!
Only a few days left to submit your work for the next issue of O.K. Periodicals. We are still searching for illustrations, photos, stories, graphic design, typefaces, product design, art, etc to feature in the THRILLER issue.
So share your fears, show your excitement and contribute!
A simple way to get your work in the MOMA or TATE Modern or Palais de Tokyo or...
Click above right on the SUBMIT button for more info! And invite friends ofcourse to drop us a line as well.
DIENACHT
A magazine about photography, design and subculture is made twice a year by one-man, Calin Kruse.
When I unpacked this magazine it was obvious I had some kind of special magazine in my hands. A small-size magazine, with semi-glossy paper that shoots the cover images in your face. The review copies are issues 8 and 9. And the cover images are just right in your face! Nailed to the ground you just want to keep staring at them, but curiosity wins and I start flipping the pages.
The biggest thumbs up for DieNacht magazine is that it has a very strong editorial content. The featured content is very well chosen and is intriguing, fascinating. Each item has a got the space in the magazine to be explain itself and be fully understood.
The graphic design and typography is well done, simple but effective. Not completely my cup of tea, but the projects and images are so strong that the design is just right. It supports images and text.
The magazine is written in German, but in the back are English translations of some main articles. Sometimes the accompanying texts are in English too, there's no clear line in that. Should be fun if the magazine will be in English to get a wider audience which it deserves. For now, learn German or just be amazed by the good content of the magazines. You won;t see the famous artists but the ones that are making awesome work. Which is, in my opinion as we also do with O.K. Periodicals, the most interesting. You get in contact with people who still really want to rock the world.
Also nice to know is that DieNacht organizes photography exhibition.
Be sure to get a copy!
http://www.dienacht-magazine.com
Here a review of two new released dutch literary magazines. MAEB and kutgitaar (Translation: cuntguitar).
For MAEB, the magazine of Martijn Brugman, it's his fifth issue, he holds on to his goal and therefor the subscription to his beautiful and surprising magazine is still free. In all issues he writes short stories on one theme. For this issue he bundled letters, written by Freddie, to the famous dutch television host Matthijs van Nieuwkerk of the programme "De Wereld Draait Door". By reading the letters you get sucked in the live of Freddie and how he thinks and lives. Great work!
Kutgitaar is the first magazine of Dennis Gaens, a A6 format magazine which also works with themes this one is about Kutgitaar (Cuntguitar), and writters are asked to write story about this non existing object. The stories are nice and short, absurd, funny and weird. A nice little non-designed magazine that makes me very curious what the next magazine will be like...and offcourse what the next theme will be.
Two very nice magazine so check them out:
http://kutgitaar.wordpress.com/
Also available online, or as ePub
http://www.maebiseenmagazine.nl/
p.s. Dutch only
No review this time, lust letting you know the new It's Nice That Magazine is out!
Issue #6 of the It’s Nice That magazine includes interviews with George Lois, Asger Carlsen, Lawrence Weiner and Kate MacGarry as well as a conversation between Martino Gamper and Francis Upritchard. Issue #6 also includes features by Marion Deuchars, Mikey Please, Carl Kleiner, Nicholas Gottlund, David Bennewith, Toro Y Moi, Keith Haring and Shelagh Cluett as well as a selection of work recently featured online.
They claim it's the world's first mobile Augmented Reality Special Magazine Edition. And it might but what a fuss to get some special effects in a magazine or even...get the answers to the crossword puzzle. I'm convinced there is a nice printed way to do everything this AR app does and better. Nice moustache though.
We had a super releaseparty of O.K. Periodicals #6 / BORING Issue. Jaap Blonk started the night with a soundpoetry performance. After that Joost and I went up the stage to give a very boring presentation. We explained how to fill in the form to become a subscriber (hello and thanks to al new subscribers!). And we made a slide for each and every single contributor in the magazine and thanking them. Well, you had to be there in the crowded venue.
But we finished with the flipthrough video you can see here as well.
We hope you will become a subscriber too, so we can make future issues of this wonderfull magazine. It has a limited run of copies (500) and we already sent 250 to pre-orders and so.
Issue 6 is, again, the best issue so far!
I've never been this much behind on schedule for reviewing magazines. But since I am and I have to review them because I promised…here two magazines in one review. The thing these magazine have in common is that they have the letters A I S T in their name.
First up is Stadtlich I reviewed it before and this is the second issue. This is the magazine that was born because we held a festival about magazine, yeah!! Nothing really changed in format or design but I still think it's a very nice mag. It's German and you can see it. The design is very solid just like the Germans like to make things. There is no way you can break this magazine. Ow…almost forgot to say that this issue has a beautiful photo serie about the Zoo. Want to read my first review go here.
Second is a magazine made in Arnhem..yes..in this small city we publish several magazines. You can say we are the magazine capital of the Netherlands ;) . This is a new design magazine which serves as a platform for creatives. A very nice initiative set up by three girls wanting to make a magazine. And if you want it you should do it. And they did. Flipping through the magazine first thing you notice are all the hand made DIY thingies that are in the magazine. Things like this always make you like the magazine more because you can feel how much work is put in to this. Second thing you is that it's a hard-core designed magazine. The designers really did everything they could to make a nice design which makes it look nice, but it also has a down side to it. In my opinion they tried a bit to hard. It's hard to understand and a bit too autonomous.
A fine first issue and I'm looking forward to seeing the next one having the subject "Money".
More information about these magazines:
http://www.thatsamagazine.com/
http://www.stadtlichh-magazin.de/
Fourteen people were asked to create self-portraits, using a police Photofit kit from the 1970s, without referring to photographs or mirror images of themselves. They were then interviewed by Philip Oltermann on the subjects of identity and the self.
The project was made by Matt Willey (project link as well) and Giles Revell.
This is the direct download of the Photofit PDF.
Introduction from the book:
There are no photos in circulation of Jacques Penry, the man who
invented the Photofit, but from what he wrote in his books, you would
guess that he might have looked a bit suspicious. A photographer by
trade, the Frenchman had been fascinated by facial topography as
early as the 1930s, when he published his magnus opus The Face of
Man. There was, Penry claimed in it, a direct link between any human’s
physique and their personality: philosophers, for example, would show
a marked development of the lower cheek muscles, while idiots and
simpletons would invariably possess a markedly receding forehead.
Following the Penry-method of facial classification, he claimed, one
could cleanse society of “criminals, mental deficits, neurasthenics
and vocational misfits.”
Perhaps unaware of the supremacist overtones of it’s creator’s
early musings, Scotland Yard gave the Photofit kit a go in 1970. The
kits come in wooden boxes, containing narrow paper strips with
various facial features and an index listing the contents: eyes, noses,
mouths, haircuts, chins, roughly 40 in each category. There are
transparencies for add-ons, such as glasses, facial hairs or wrinkles,
and a frame on which the individual parts can be assembled.
The first Photofit portrait of a British suspect was broadcast
on 22nd of October 1970, in connection with the murder of James
Cameron in Islington, London. Surprisingly, it came up with the goods:
the image jogged a shop assistant’s memory and led to the arrest
of John Earnest Bennett in Nottingham. Soon though, policemen
found that Photofit portraits of suspects often looked nothing like
the criminals that were eventually caught: the Penry-method clearly
had its limits. In 1988, the Met introduced computer programmes
for facial profiling (“E-fits”) and Photofit kits across the country were
hurled onto rubbish heaps.
Penry’s system might have been inaccurate and ideologically
dubious, but it has qualities that appealed to us when we came up with
this project. Photofit is tactile: you can touch the individual parts with
your own hands and move them about until things click into place – it’s
like creating a puzzle. And it is immediate: there is no person standing
between you and the final picture. We managed to track down a male
and female kit from a Police Museum in Kent and invited a number
of people to assemble their own Photofit self-portrait in Giles’ studio
in Clerkenwell. The end result, we think, is curious. Each portrait tells
a story: it speaks of the hang-ups, insecurities and vanities we all have
about our own appearance. They hint at how deceptive our relationship
with our self-image can be. Jacques Penry claimed that he could deduce
a person’s character from their face in an instant. If nothing else, we
hope that this project shows how the connection between persona
and personality is a lot more complex than that.
We just received the latest issue of Slanted and it looks great again. Each issue really explorers the given theme about typography, visually as well as in the written word, in a good way. The editors know what they're talking about! Next to showing really nice typographic related work, the magazine design itself is also very nice. Good type should be invisible. Well, thats b*llshit ofcourse. Good type should be seen. If you can set type in the way Slanted does, and working with different quality papers from Lessebo for each section than you know everybody should have this instant classic magazine in their library.
Below their pressrelease:
While Slanted #13 dealt with contemporary and historical humanist grotesque fonts, Slanted #14 – Grotesque 2 focuses on
current fonts that are in tradition of Lineal, Neo- or Geometric Grotesque.
They mainly have their origins in the time of the turn of 19th to 20th century. In 1880 Ferdinand Theinhardt designed
the Royal Grotesque with four weights for the Königlich-Preußische Akademie zu Berlin, from which developed the Akzidenz
Grotesque in 1918. Simultaneously, from 1905 to 1930, Morris Fuller Benton created fonts on the basis of Lineal Neogrotesque:
the Lineal Grotesque. Nowadays there can be observed different procedures of designing fonts, which can be
named as quotations. A variety of fonts bear on historical models.
With great pleasure we present a huge number of these corresponding and related grotesque fonts, illustrations and
projects. The type essays by Flo Gaertner (Karlsruhe), Robert Schumann (Berlin) and Anna Sinofzik (London) deal with
them. Worth seeing photos stories are “Almost Europe” by Miguel Hahn and Jan-Christoph Hartung (Frankfurt am Main)
who visualize the situation of refugees in the Spanish enclave Melilla, as well as »Ein Abend auf der Wiesn – Pictures
taken during the great beer rush« by Volker Derlath (München). Numerous interviews with Lizá Defossez Ramalho and
Artur Rebelo (Porto), Edwin van Gelder (Amsterdam), Marta Podkowinska and Karol Gadzala (Krakow) and Hans Gremmen
(Amsterdam) as well as an article about Kiyoshi Awazu as well as the 4th part of the Tokyo Report, both by Ian Lynam
(Tokyo) and a musical travelogue by Frank Wiedemann (Berlin) round up the stuff to read.
Paris La
Wandering trough Antwerp I bumped in to a sign saying "Magazine Launch" ofcourse I couldn't resist. I entered the expo-shop-bar called RA13 (http://www.ra13.be/) it looked very nice the most of the expo was fashion and fashion stores from (as it seems) young and enthusiastic fashion designers.
Couldn't find a magazine launch though, so I walked back and by doing this found the little bookstore in an other part of the building where I found this magazine Paris La. The magazine covers contemporary culture content in direct connection with fashion, art, writing, photography, music, and cinema. The magazine features interviews, portraits and photo essays on, with and by artists we truly love and was founded by detour and creative director Dorothée Perret at the end of the year 2008. This was the magazine which was released so I bought it and here it is on our blog.
First thing you notice is the blue poster folded around the magazine. These small things gives a magazine just that little extra that makes my curious about what's inside. But it also sets me up with an ever returning question, should I take of the poster so I can watch it in full(which might damage it and the magazine) or do I leave it and never have a look at it and settle with the thought that it belongs on the cover.
Once inside it's beautifully printed on different kinds of paper and the content is mixed, (visual) essays, photo shoots and illustration. Every item in the magazine has been treated differently with it's own type and feeling. The first item shows the work of two artists, a nice fact here is that they mix photo's of the artists work with photo's of the artists them selves. A very nice solution for showing how's behind the work that's been made. Further on in the magazine is a nice visual essay by Julien David who gives his interpretation on Japan and bikes.
Overall a nice and well designed magazine with good content. Only thing is that I still don't know what the poster folded around the magazine looks like. It's still stapled on to the magazine where I think it belongs.
I've also spotted the magazine in the Netherlands…so if you see it have a look at it.
More information about the magazine:
http://www.paris-la.com/
A while ago Little White Lies made a video about how their magazine is made. The very awesome VNA (Very Nearly Almost) street art magazine have released a videointerview with them. Which gives a nice insight how it started and developed to become what it is today. The video interview is made by itdrewitself (which made other cool stuff as well, worth checking out)
This is such a great idea. For the new single by Steye they made a interactive video, a 360 degrees video with karaoke text if you click on the video itself. Have fun and sing-a-long. Nice music as well!
YES FINALLY!
The sixth O.K. Periodicals will be released on the 8th of July.
After a bit of a delay (sorry for that) we'll be officially releasing the BORING issue. As you know this magazine is pleasantly disruptive and always curious for inspiring creative work. Maybe the Boring theme is a paradox, but wait until you see all the stunning visuals and read the fascinating stories. Being bored seems to be a most interesting state of mind for people to become even more creative.
We got some big names featuring this issue, and a large part of relatively unknown creative talent as well. All of them deserve a beautiful representation to a bigger audience. This is just one of those magazines you wish you bought before it sold out (we're only printing 500 collectibles).
O.K. Periodicals #6 is featuring: Harmen Liemburg, Gemma Correll, Francis Alÿs, Tom Gauld, Petra Kruijt, Meyoko, Pixy Liao, Simon Wild, Atle Mo, We Make Carpets, Helmut Smits, Jaap Blonk, Mr. Bingo, Berndnaut Smilde, Hans Eijkelboom, Sam Durant and many more...
Official Release Drinks!
Friday 8th July 2012
Venue: TAPE
Location: Hommelstraat 66, Arnhem (the Netherlands)
RSVP: Facebook-event
There are already a lot of people showing up. Be there and get one of the first copies. Meet a lot of wonderful, inspiring people in the best bar in town!
How to get it a.s.a.p.:
On the right side of this website is our shop.
Pre-order O.K. Periodicals #6 / BORING issue.
Or even better become a subscriber!
Your subscription contributes directly to future issues of this magazine.
If you subscribe now (2 issues each year) you get this issue for free!
1-year subscription price: pay €30,00 (normal price: €45,00)
Pay. (obviously, we put a lot of effort in it and want at least our printing costs covered so we can make the next issue)
Wait until the postman delivers.
Smile!
Promote us!
Feel very free to promote O.K. Periodicals in the way you like (via social media, word-to-mouth or as giveaway gift). These small things mean a lot to us!
We hope you will support us by purchasing or promoting the new issue.
best regards,
William van Giessen,
Joost van der Steen
Okay let's be honest, ICON is not my kind of magazine. I love magazine that look good and are made by people who love magazines. This is clearly not one of them. ICON is a new gentlemen lifestyle magazine.
Best thing about is the pretty face of Vincent Cassel on the cover and the photo shoot of him inside. This man makes every cover great! More then half of the magazine is adverts. This makes it annoying to read and impossible to review. So a short review this time.
My last comment about this magazine is that I tried to make pictures of pages without advert on it so it may seem like I'm over exaggerating the advert story, but I'm really not. The photo of the Vincent Cassel spread is showing what I mean. A pretty guy on well taken photo with okay designed text at the bottom half of the page but all I can look at are the five static posing people with the basic blue sky and horrible white screaming typography.
Album Magazin is a photography magazine from Germany published twice a year. A got it lying on my desks for month now, the second issue is already out but here my review on the first issue and the concept of the magazine. The magazine comes in regular newspaper(about twice a tabloid) size and paper. So when you unfold it it looks very impressive, and you need a big empty table to open a spread and take a look at it. I liked it best standing at the table.
Off course while standing at the table it's hard to read all the text. But it's the best way to look at what the magazine is all about: the photographs. The big sized magazine might be difficult to handle but it's a perfect match with the nice and some times full spread pictures.
The typography is nice and clean. Although the cover doesn't show what to expect inside and the typography is to designy in my eyes. The rest of the typography is looking ok and stands in the shadow while the images are on stage in the spotlight.
I love it when the form of the magazine is set to serve the content, and that's exactly what they did in this magazine, nice work.
Want to know more about A Magazine or want to see when the next issue is coming up? http://album-magazin.de
We love magazines, that's why we have our own magazine, magazine event and will, from now on, review magazines at this blog. Hope you like it.
A5 Magazine
#11 Home Edition
The second time I'm reviewing A5, a lovely magazine, and I think I love this way of binding(none), printing and design the best. In stead of a normal bound magazine it's a box with loose cards.
A5 magazine is a platform for artist to show their work. An exhibition in a magazine form each time with another theme. By giving each artist it's own card loose in a box it get's full attention. No images on the other page of a spread or strange design quirk the designer thought of to make the page look nicer. Just the work and nothing but the work and if you want to know more about the work just turn the page and you'll see, and again in the sec and dry design that makes this magazine so stylish.
Because the cards are loose it's hard to flip through the work. Which is a good thing for the artists in the magazine especially the first ones. But not very handy if you are a flip-through-a-magazine-in-a-minute kind of guy like me. I like to go through a magazine thoroughly the first time I see it and when it landed on my bookshelf I like to flip through it in en few minutes once in a while. This is not possible which make it a magazine I like very much but won't get of my bookshelf very often. And that's a pity cause it's a very nice project.
Want to know more about A5 or want to see when the next issue is coming up? Surf to: http://www.thea5magazine.com/
Posted by Test
12-11-2011
