Blissful Display of Photography

Bliss Magazine by Hanke Arkenbout

On the hunt for more independent publishers of fine rags, I came across Bliss Magazine (not to be confused with BL!SSS) on Etsy. Bliss is a fairly new publication with only two issues produced, but they're done in fine fashion. A minimalist approach to the design definitely gives the power to the photography, which it should, since it's a photography magazine. At $24 a pop for around 90+ pages, it's not cheap, but definitely sumptuous and worth a look if you appreciate fine photography from folks you probably haven't run across. Check out Bliss by Hanke Arkenbout on Etsy. … [Read more...]

PFL Goes Back for Some Retooling

In the grand scheme of things, forcing myself to push out a zine in a month just to prove I can do it doesn't seem to be the best idea. I finished designing and laying out issue #1 of PFL, but after assembling a mock-up version, I hated it. It was rushed and way too unplanned for my sensibilities. I just didn't feel good about putting it out in the world. I told myself some time ago that if I was going to do work, I wasn't going to half-step. I'm not about doing things just to do things because that's not how legacies get made. One thing that becomes clear after looking at mags like Anthology, Uppercase and BL!SSS is the first priority is putting out a quality piece of reading material. That's what I want from PFL, so it's back to the beginning for me. I'm taking the mag down to the foundation, redesigning with a cohesive look and feel. Once I nail down the design and section templates, then I can think about how to fill the pages. For those that I promised to get their stuff … [Read more...]

Anthology Magazine Makes Me Home Sick… Erm, Sick of My Home

Being a designer by trade, tracking design in other areas outside of graphics is a natural occurrence. I love quality architecture, I get off on talks about industrial design and well done interior design gives me a little bit of a chub. What? TMI? The problem with interior design magazines is most of them suck from an overal design standpoint. I'm no mag design wunkerkind, but I can spot schlock when I see it. The mags that do get my attention visually aren't written for me. Dwell Magazine is fantastic, but comes off a bit too hipster and elitist for my taste. How many times to I have to read about two domestic partners with 3 hippy kids living in a post modern, minimalist dream house that I will never be able to afford? Elle Decor has some pretty kick-ass pads, but everything in that magazine, right down to bedside tchotchkes, is about $4,000 outside my price range. Oh, and their logo is horribly outdated. Atomic Ranch is cool, but a bit to extreme in one direction of … [Read more...]

Get the Inside Track to Making Magazines with Magcloud.com

blacktop1

I always wanted to publish a magazine. Since I was a kid thumbing through my older brothers’ car books I have been interested storytelling on the printed page. However the cost and risk were just too high to test and play. Then, along came the internet. I have been publishing my content on sites since 1996, and even though I called it a magazine, it was never taken seriously until I tested HP’s MagCloud. Now I tell people I have a print issue and their attitudes change, dramatically. Here’s how it came to be. I was converting a couple of my online articles of garage tours to send to the shop owners. In the conversion, I thought I would put together a couple more articles to see how a magazine would look. I had heard of HP’s print on demand site MagCloud.com. … [Read more...]

The Bold Italic Has Issues

The Bold Italic issue #3

Leave it to Victoria at SF Girl By Bay to introduce us to the cool shizz, in this case, The Bold Italic, an online guide to all things awesome in San Francisco. If only I had this info before our trip last month. The Bold Italic also has a print magazine, and issue #3 just dropped, for which I will soon be owning a copy. Based on these shots, I'm intrigued by the design. At $4 a copy for a 10x16" sub-tabloid, its definitely worth a shot. By the time you read this, my copy should be entering an envelope on its way to me. When I get it, I will of course fill you in on the details. From the page: In Volume 3 of The Bold Italic magazine, we talk to locals who are consistently challenging the status quo with their incredible design work, whether they're creating bike friendly jeans, sex toys, public spaces, or marijuana strains. We hope this publication inspires you to grab your creative life by the you-know-whats and get ’er done. Like our website, this large-format magazine … [Read more...]