Stack Magazines

"We wanted to do something that was ours..." Jessica McGowan and Coco Cassibba are the art director and fashion director of photography magazine Primary Paper. The title started without any grand plan – the word they use to describe the process is “impulsive”, as they set out to make something based on the work they love. In this conversation they speak about what they've learned along the way, why print is so important to the project, and why they love not having a client.

Published by a group of British students studying overseas on the Erasmus programme, 34minus1 is a showcase of creative projects made by fellow Erasmus alumni in 2018. The magazine has a political motivation – concerned that Brexit could mean the end of British involvement in Erasmus, 34minus1 was launched to show what British students would be missing out on.

"We don't ever do controversy for the sake of it..." Maria Dimitrova is the editor of Mal, the journal of sexuality and erotics that was started in 2018 by the Feeld dating app. In this conversation she speaks about that origin story, the importance of editorial independence, and how they’re “following the thread”, taking advantage of opportunities as they arise and allowing the project to take its own direction.

"The web is ephemeral – a server goes down and you're gone..." Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee is a filmmaker and the executive editor of Emergence Magazine, the California-based title that explores our relationship with the natural world. Published in four online issues per year, and then in one beautiful, thick annual print edition, it's an ambitious and forward-thinking publication that wants readers to slow down and reflect on the way we live. In this conversation Emmanuel explains how he came to be editing a magazine that operates at the meeting place of ecology, culture and spirituality; why it was always essential to the project that there should be a print output; and how they go about transforming their stories into print.

"The cover is the playground for design..." Ariane Spanier is the designer of Fukt, the magazine for contemporary drawing. She makes it it along with her partner Björn Hegardt, and it has become renowned for its fantastically creative, fun-loving covers. Their current issue won Cover of the Year at the Stack Awards last week, and Ariane dropped in at the office the day after the ceremony to speak about the process she went through in creating an eye-catching concept that embodies their take on the theme of systems. In this conversation she explains why she’s attracted to such a playful design style, why she thinks it works so well for the cover of this magazine, and how this long-running title has changed over the 20 years it has been published.

"We're not National Geographic..." Josef Shaw is editor and designer of Bumble, the magazine that raises awareness of the plant and animal species that are currently under threat, and offers simple, practical things that readers can do to help. It was started last year by Josef and editor-in-chief Rachel Nellist, and in this episode he tells the story of how they funded that first issue, how they’ve managed to make it self-sustaining since then, and how they started out aiming at younger readers, but found that they have a broader readership than they expected.

"I see the appeal in holding something..." Karl Henkell is editor-in-chief of Record Culture, the magazine that visits vinyl lovers in their homes and studios. Long interviews give them the space to talk about their passion, and they're photographed surrounded by piles of vinyl, giving a lovely intimate picture of who they are and what music they listen to. In this conversation Karl talks about his first impulse to create a print magazine, his pursuit of the perfect interview, and how he's working to put Record Culture in front of the right readers.

"These are the stories you won't find in Singapore's mainstream narrative..." Pang Xue Qiang is one of the founders of Meantime, the magazine that explores the history of Singapore via the love stories of its citizens. It’s a lovely, sweet and affecting magazine that also has a deeper purpose hidden just below the surface – flying below the radar of Singapore's strict government controls, it specialises in telling tales that you wouldn’t hear in the country's mainstream narrative.

"It's not looking outward for approval..." Helen Jennings is editor of Nataal, the magazine of global African creativity. Launched online in 2015, the project grew steadily until last summer the first print edition hit shelves around the world, immediately impressing with its lavish production values and its fresh approach to the fashion, music and visual arts coming out of Africa and the diaspora. In this conversation Helen speaks about the new sense of confidence she’s seeing amongst young African artists and creatives, and why, when they finally started working on the print product, they really didn’t have any choice but to go all out and make something spectacular.

"People actually read magazines!" Anna Broujean is the editor and art director of Club Sandwich, the Paris-based title that uses food as an absurd and accessible way into exploring anthropology, sociology, psychology and other social sciences. The first two issues were published in French, but issue three, dedicated to the humble pickle, features both French and English. In this conversation Anna speaks about the ideas behind her eccentric magazine, the reason why they decided to add English, and why she has been pleasantly surprised by the results.

"Sometimes it just needs to be big..." Ben Clement is the founder of Good Sport, the magazine that launched out of Melbourne in 2014, fusing sport with art, food, fashion and other facets of popular culture. In this conversation he explains how his love for sport and his career as a photographer came together to create the magazine, how it has evolved over the years, and why sometimes sports photography just has to be big.

"It's for the people who love dusty record shops..." David Holt is one half of the joint venture that is bringing cult music magazine Wax Poetics back to record and magazine shops across Europe this summer. Created by its original editorial team, the magazine, which was launched in 2001 but switched to print on demand in 2018, will return to the format that was so beloved of music enthusiasts, and the relaunch begins with a collector's edition that combines archive material from the vaults with fresh pieces on London's thriving jazz scene and 90s acid jazz. In this conversation David speaks about his original interest in the magazine, and why he thinks the time is right for its return to the newsstand. This is the last episode of the Stack Magazine podcast for a little while, but we'll be back in September with a new season of conversations with independent magazine makers.

“We love pregnant men!” The first Temple Arles book fair was held in the South of France last week, and we were there selling some of our favourite independent magazines. Organised as part of the photography festival that has been held in the town for the last 50 years, the fair included some extraordinary photo books and zines, so we took the opportunity to speak to the people behind some of the most striking titles. Brilliantly bizarre, the three zines we picked out embrace the ease, accessibility and unpretentiousness typical of the format, using their unassuming pages to explore unique obsessions: Album by Eline Mugaas and Elise Storsveen uses a vast archive of found photography to create unexpected associations between images, challenging conventional ideas on subjects like gender roles and encouraging the viewer to question what they see. Boyz II Men is a collection of photography shot by the artist Thick Nina, exploring the formation of masculinity and considering the role of men, often in relations

“From weakness you make something strong...” Laurent Laporte is editor and founder of Where is the Cool?, the French magazine that presents readers with an eclectic and totally original selection of things that it has decreed are cool. In this conversation he shares his thoughts on turning weakness into strength (he’s not a journalist, which is why you won’t find long written articles in the magazine); the ongoing struggle of independent publishing; and why this thing absolutely has to be a print magazine.

"Magazines were magical to me – they transported me to somewhere else..." Marvin Scott Jarrett launched Ray Gun in 1992, working with the designer David Carson to create one of the most radical and influential magazines of the decade. After becoming disillusioned with the music industry in the late 90s (he didn't like boy bands) he went on to launch Nylon magazine in 1999, pioneering a publishing model that embraced both print and digital. He's now released a book with Rizzoli looking back at Ray Gun, showcasing some of its most famous artwork and locating it within the music, fashion and design cultures of the 90s. He was in London to promote the book at the end of May, so I caught up with him to speak about his career so far, and how he threw himself into magazine making, learning along the way.

"Satire is an interesting weapon, but it's been co-opted by the establishment." Freddie Marsh is one of the editors of The Fence, the satirical magazine that launched in London earlier this year. In this conversation Freddie explains why he and his fellow founders were inspired to produce a new satirical magazine, why it's important that politics is just one part of what they cover, and why The Fence needed to exist in print.

"You're constantly trying to break it..." Seb Emina is the editor of The Happy Reader, the literary magazine made for Penguin Books by the publishers of Fantastic Man. The 13th issue is out now, featuring Hollywood star Owen Wilson alongside Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and Seb dropped into the Stack office to speak about the making of the magazine, and why its simple structure encourages him to play with ever more ambitious and eccentric editorial ideas.

"We have money all of a sudden!" Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff is the editor of gal-dem, the magazine made by women of colour and non-binary people of colour, which made an immediate impact when its first print issue launched in 2016. They've been working hard since then to increase their reach, for example with their takeover of The Guardian's Weekend magazine last year, and this week saw the release of their first book, I Will Not be Erased. I caught up with Charlie to speak about the rapid growth of gal-dem, including the funding they received earlier this year, which is allowing them to embark upon "gal-dem 2.0" – the ambitious next stage of their development.

"It's world peace for publishers..." Nikki Simpson is the woman behind the International Magazine Centre, a proposed hub for publishers and anyone who works with magazines. Aiming to launch in Edinburgh in 2022, Nikki wants to bring together all kinds of magazines, from the biggest corporate titles to the smallest independent outfits, helping them to build connections between one another and using strength in numbers to draw wider attention to magazines that might otherwise be overlooked. In this conversation she explains where the idea came from and how she's taking it forward, and why she wants to hear from LOTS of magazine makers.

"I want to inspire more women to have a career in type..." Amber Weaver is the author of Femme Type, an all-female publication about type design and typography. While studying graphic design at university she noticed that the type projects covered in the books she found in the library were invariably created by men, so she started her own list of great work done by women. The list continued to grow after she left university and joined People of Print, and she saw the opportunity to create the book she had longed to read. The resulting publication features more than 40 women working in the type industry, funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over £10,000 – more than double its initial target. In this conversation, Amber speaks about how she ran that campaign, and explains that with her list still growing, there are lots of opportunities for building on the book and doing more to support the community that has gathered around it.