great indie mags i’ve read recently
once viewed as a decaying industry, magazines seem to have been merely dormant as the passionate work of bright-eyed ambitious upstarts have led to an eruption of creative, beautifully crafted independent magazines covering all kinds of topics from popular subjects like food and fashion, to much more niche passions like tennis and even hand dryers.
this list comprises some of my favourite titles amongst the many magazines i have enjoyed over the past year, showcasing the wonderful variety in terms of both content and style contributing to a new found awareness and appreciation of the printed page, introducing people to ideas and stories and works they would never have encountered in the recommendation bubble.
CEREAL MAGAZINE
this lifestyle, design and travel magazine is one of the most exquisite in terms of its editorial design, photography and the quality of the materials it is made out of. designed by studio faculty in vancouver canada but produced in bath here in the UK, its sublime aesthetic consists of a gorgeous mix of light greys, neutral tones and subtle typography which brings to life the quietly beautiful photographs and thoughtful essays contained within. its recently released AW 2019 edition focuses on the subject of ‘legacy’, examining what it means to have one and why it may not always be the best goal to have. the cover features rupi kaur, the indian-born canadian poet whose delicately written poems are followed by hundreds of thousands of adoring instagram followers, and whose books and live performances have consequently been a huge hit. she discusses her background as an immigrant whose family fled political violence in her native punjab, india, and her struggle to adapt to an entirely different world in canada which led to her obsession and fascination with language which led to her thriving poetry career. also featured in the magazine is a look around a breathtaking modernist tomb, an idyllic hotel in sorrento and the photographic legacy of chinese photographer fan ho, whose work i was unfamiliar with before reading the piece — his patient approach to photography waiting for the perfect subject to enter his wonderfully framed locations led to some absolutely astonishing photographs.
IT’S FREEZING IN LA!
deriving its title from a tweet written by famous climate denialist president trump, it’s freezing in LA contrasts its namesake with a wonderfully put together collection of articles discussing different aspects of climate change. i was lucky to receive a copy of the second issue in my stack monthly subscription back in February, and recently bought the third at la biblioteka in sheffield and it didn’t disappoint. using the incredible attendance of the climate marches which have taken place this year as a graphical motif, each new article features more dots than the previous one, which are contextualised later in the magazine as they represent the turnout of protestors in various marches in different regions. what freezing in LA presents isn’t all about gloom and doom, but about ways in which we can collectively effect change on a systemic level to combat climate injustices. rather than focusing on comparatively fruitless endeavours focusing on changing the behaviour of the individual consumer, it’s freezing in LA isn’t afraid to critique the systemic issues which have perpetuated the crises which are unfolding. one article discusses the ways in which the design of cities — oriented around cars as many are — have a significant impact on the climate and suggest new ways of designing cities which prioritise the pedestrian and mass transit infrastructure, reducing emissions. there’s also an article about the role of finance which has invested billions into fossil fuel companies and other companies exploiting resources. other articles include a critique of the marie kondo moment, gardening as activism and an interesting use of theatre and live experiences to bring issues like climate change to life. these articles are accompanied by some wonderfully bright and colourful illustrations. i particularly enjoy the ones featured in the article about ‘solastalgia’.
GAL-DEM
another magazine i’ve discovered thanks to the excellent curation of the stack monthly subscription (not to mention founder steve watson’s interview with its creators a while back), gal-dem is a cutting edge magazine written by women and non binary people of colour giving often marginalised communities a voice. the latest issue, the UN/REST issue, is split into two halves, exploring the theme of ‘rest’ — one article explores the idea of laziness as a radical act, formative memories of childhood sleepovers, a shoot featuring prominent WoC authors which is executed in a dreamy fairy-tale style (especially since it is often so difficult for writers of these demographics to get their work published compared to white men and women highlighted by some astonishing figures about lacking literary representation in the publishing houses of the diverse london) and a quite touching story about a writer dealing with the grief of losing her dad who found comfort in dreams where she reunited with her deceased father. contrastingly, in the unrest segment, an even more vocally political bent is established with a piece interviewing unionised custodial staff at a london university fighting for better pay and working conditions, which delves into their backstories as immigrants and their route into being involved with a union. a harrowing piece entitled ‘diary of a sex worker’ conveys the personal experiences of a romanian sex worker working in the UK and how their livelihoods are being threatened by ‘anti-brothel’ laws and the brutality of police searches aimed at finding reasons to deport them back to their home country. gal-dem is absolutely stuffed from cover to cover with a whole range of interesting articles and cutting edge journalism from voices often omitted in mainstream media. since their precarious launch in 2015 — when its founders were still working other jobs unsure whether the magazine would make it in a digital obsessed world — gal-dem has risen to indie-mag ascendency. they’ve guest-edited the guardian weekend magazine and even curated an exhibition at the victoria and albert museum, and the project has become lucrative enough to become the main or only job for most of its contributors.
POSITIVE NEWS
we all know the world can be overwhelmingly dreary at times, news comes out that — while important — can upset us and ruin our day, stories of murders and disasters and economic decay. positive news, contrastingly, is a much more cheery news bulletin that instead of informing you about what’s wrong, is about what’s going right. part of the ‘constructive journalism; movement, it’s a quarterly sigh of relief amidst negative news stories that restores faith in humanity lost by refreshing twitter. the latest issue, a rebuttal to the insular, selfish and bigoted reputation britain has accrued — particularly in recent years — focuses on the concept of ‘the united kingdom of solutions’, featuring a few choice projects around the UK which are doing really great things. there’s a feature about ‘NRTH LASS’, an independent magazine set up to tell the story of northern women and their experiences. there’s a piece about a muslim community group in birmingham which works together to supply emergency food banks and, in the wake of the 2017 grenfell disaster, travelled down to london to hand out supplies to tenants who had been displaced by the tragedy. there’s also a piece about a new minister in the welsh government who evaluates the long term impact of policies and works to ensure that new programmes are being built which serve the next generation and lead to a better future. amongst all these large articles are bite sized infographics with a bold use of typography summarising statistics and figures like the plan to plant 130,000 trees in england over the next couple of years. positive news is by no means a substitute for the regular news bulletins we rely on to know what’s going on around the world, but it’s a breath of fresh air at a time where the news is just so consistently awful.
THE GOURMAND
all about dining, this magazine goes in a different direction than the various food magazines you see littering newsstands. of course, there are still recipes — many of them sourced from their interviewees. but the playfulness and diversity found in this beautifully typeset magazine. i’m particularly fond of the playful photoshoots featured in each issue, eschewing the typical food photography found in most magazines — usually carefully airbrushed and posed plates of featured recipes — for light hearted but stylish representations. in the latest issue for example, a sequence called ‘faking it’ features collections of objects carefully arranged to look like food, like basketballs sat atop a messy tangle of yellow hosepipe to create a rather appetising spaghetti and meatballs. another feature ‘can do’, is a colourful ode to canned goods — often looked down upon by the snobby writers of your conventional food magazine. this is mixed with an eclectic mix of stories and interviews which all come together to celebrate good food, drink and dining. one piece which stood out to me personally was an interview with eric wareheim — the comedian and one half of surreal comedy sketch duo tim and eric — where he ditches his usual comic persona of mock infomercials and parodies of strange local tv for a more mature and stylish photoshoot probably more on par with his role in aziz ansari’s hit netflix comedy ‘master of none’. he’s here to talk about his wine, las jaras, a natural recipe which like his work in tim & eric, has become something of a cult hit amongst enthusiasts. the gourmand uses food and drink as a focal point to talk about all manner of subjects and conduct interviews with all manner of people, not just chefs. there’s an interview with art critic jerry salz focusing around his love of ‘refreshingly shit coffee’, pieces about artists helen chadwick, antoni miralda and maria farrar. there’s even a piece by doctor and anthropologist anna harris about the use of food to create risk-free clinical simulations for medical students in training. at the end of the day, food is one of the few things that all humans have in common, eating is a daily ritual and a thriving culture has built up around it. we all have opinions on food, our own personal connections and stories based on what we eat. the gourmand is so uniquely positioned amongst the food magazines because it makes that connection between who we are, what we eat and how we eat it.
i’m always surprised and delighted by indie magazines like these. rather than repetitive and formulaic like a lot of mainstream magazines, they’re willing to experiment and do new interesting and creative things to challenge people’s perceptions and get them to consider subjects that they wouldn’t otherwise consider. for example, in it’s freezing in LA there’s a piece which discusses the design of an interactive theatre production, which i otherwise wouldn’t consider actively looking for on the internet where search engines like google and recommendations on platforms like netflix can often make us more insular and close-minded, showing us just what we’re used to or what we’re most likely to enjoy. with magazines however, something as universally popular as food can be used as a conduit to discuss all kinds of subjects and talk to all kinds of different people. there’s other examples of the inverse, where niche subjects like tennis are the gateway to discussing bigger ideas about victory, defeat and rivalry. other more general interest magazines like monocle (not really so much an independent these days as a media empire) introduce the reader to all kinds of different topics from business and travel to dining and design.
