Sunday, February 25

Monocle

Monocle has finally launched. There has been a heap of fanfare about this new mag. Created by the original people behind Wallpaper*, it promised a lot.

I now have it in my hands, and I have to say, I am very surprised. Don't take this as a negative. Rather, surprise in this case means what it says - Monocle was not what I was expecting.

Wallpaper* is image heavy. Monocle is not. The amount of text in the mag makes it almost like a journal. It is quite highbrow - not a light read by any means. That said, how nice it is to have something other than the New Yorker to challenge us.

The size is unusual, and the paper stock definitely does not make it feel like a standard glossy. It uses a matt finish, is low on sensational imagery, and has little advertising.

My one big question is that being a monthly, how the hell are they going to be able to generate that amount of content each and every month. They have set themselves a very high bar, and I am looking forward to seeing if they can meet it.

Tuesday, February 13

West East - Great Cover

Some covers just jump out and grab you. Here is one of them.

Imagine this on the mag shelves along side all the other dribble, and you will see why West East - a fashion mag out of Hong Kong, is one of my favourites.

Monday, February 12

Monster Children



I have a number of books that list the coolest mags in the world. They are dominated by fashion and design mags, but for some reason, Monster Children is not listed amongst them.

WRONG

If Monster Children doesn't rate as one of the 100 coolest magazines in the world, then I am a munkles unky. They do two covers for each issue (one cover of the current issue 13the glows in the dark). Check this for out there - who does 4 colour printing for a purely black and white edition, even for ads? These guys do.

MC has achieved that elusive cult following that so many want but few manage. Newsagents wouldn't have a clue where to put them - they probably think it is a title about kids!
By the way, mag nation has exclusive back copies of monster children, going back all the way to issue 1, and with both copies of each issue. Colour me cool.

I am now going to rip off something from the magazine and take my chances with the copyright gods. I hope people appreciate the irony. This is the fine print from the mag:
"this is the 13th issue of MC. Don't copy anything in this mag. That's shit house. Comments made within this mag are not ours. We just need words to fill the space. So back off. And whats that park in North Sydney, under the bridge. I like that park..."

Anyone who includes random crap in small print is brilliant by me

Friday, February 2

world exclusive

can we trust anything that is ever printed on the front cover of a weekly gossip mag? take a look at this week's woman's day and new idea.

both feature shane warne and simone on the front cover. the amusing part is that new idea has "world exclusive" printed on it (top right corner). these mags come out at the same time and sit next to each other in most retail outlets. do people really believe that new idea are the only people in the entire world who have photos of shane and simone. i wish i could ask the question who cares, but obviously many people do.

can' wait for the next simultaneous world exclusive across 79 different magazines in 15 different countries.

do you think i am cynical? now that is a world exclusive.

Magabsent

wow... long time no blog. sorry

to the thousands of people :) who read me religiously, get a life. no, i mean, i will be a good magazine from now on, i promise. kind of like the frustration of collecting monthly editions only to miss out on the december issue.

i'm back. 2007 is the year of the magazine. sooo exciting.