SPD GUEST EDITOR: September 2014 Archives

So, what makes a great Monocle cover?

So, what makes a great Monocle cover?

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
News broke earlier this week that Monocle founder Tyler Brule had sold a minority share of the company, valuing the brand at a whopping $115 million. Amaze!

We look back at Monocle's first seven years in the new issue of Gym Class. In the feature, creative director Richard Spencer Powell discusses the workload, his favorite magazines, working with editor Andrew Tuck, and he reveals his favorite Monocle covers (so far).


MORE
Another ace cover from Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia

Another ace cover from Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
Here's a pretty amazing fact: American photographer Steven Meisel has photographed every Vogue Italia front cover since 1988. Yup, EVERY cover. Since 1988. Pretty amaze, right? Some of you reading will not have been born in 1988. Know mag history, peeps. And respect where respect is due... that's all we're saying.

Oh, and make sure you track down the September issue of Vogue Italia. They aced their cover this year! It's a mega-gatefold extravaganza featuring 50 models! #50thAnniversaryIssue

Click below to see enlarged version of the cover
VogueItaliaSept2014.jpg

The Fantastic Men Behind Fantastic Man

The Fantastic Men Behind Fantastic Man

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
Ok, act cool. Don't embarrass yourself. Play it cool. Oh... doh. Too late, we're serious fanboys for Fantastic Man and the two fantastic men (sorry, couldn't help ourselves) who make it, co-founders Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom. The new issue of Fantastic Man (the magazine's 20th issue!) has just dropped in London (and will do so very soon everywhere else), so what better time to catch up with Gert and ask a few questions about what makes a great Fantastic Man cover. Oh, and would they ever put a women on the cover? The answer is below.
MORE
A chat with The Gentlewoman's EIC Penny Martin

A chat with The Gentlewoman's EIC Penny Martin

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
Indie women's magazine The Gentlewoman is a fave here at Gym Class HQ. What's not to love? We had the good fortune to chat with editor-in-chief Penny Martin for our sixth issue (way back when). We thought it about time we touched base with Penny just as the tenth issue of The Gentlewoman drops (with Swedish musician Robyn on the cover, FYI). Over to you, Penny.
MORE
Little White Lies.  A magazine for movie lovers who love magazines

Little White Lies. A magazine for movie lovers who love magazines

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
Who doesn't enjoy a great film? We love 'em. And we're not talking dodgy, low-quality streaming. Rather, we're all about heading to our local cinema, grapping a tub of Ben & Jerry's, a Coke the size of a European car, and sitting back for some cinematic magic.

And how do we choose which flicks to see? Simple, we read British indie film magazine Little White Lies.

We spoke with Little White Lies creative director Timba Smits about what makes a great Little White Lies cover. Read on, magazine lovers.
MORE
Are you familiar with ZEIT Magazin?  You should be.

Are you familiar with ZEIT Magazin? You should be.

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
Are you familiar with ZEIT Magazin? It's the weekly magazine of German newspaper Die Zeit (translates to The Times in English) and is a regular fixture over on Coverjunkie (each issue features two covers).
They also publish a twice-yearly English language best-of edition, available widely in London and New York.
Berlin-based journalist Kati Krause spoke with ZEIT Magazin's editor Christoph Amend and art director Katja Kollmann for the new issue of Gym Class. Here's an extract from their conversation.
MORE
Indie favorite Cereal magazine hits the newsstands

Indie favorite Cereal magazine hits the newsstands

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
The South West of England is fast establishing itself as a hotbed of top-form indie publishing, including the titles Hole & Corner (lifestyle), Another Escape (travel), Bone Shaker (cycling) and Cereal (lifestyle).
A new issue of Cereal is about to drop (working another trademark less-is-more cover). Our advice: snap it up! Hello, collectable.

click for larger view
2-Cereal.jpg3-Cereal.jpg

More info:
A conversation with ace French illustrator Jean Julien

A conversation with ace French illustrator Jean Julien

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
We're big fans of illustration. And London-based, French illustrator Jean Jullien is one of faves. We asked him a couple of questions about illustrating for magazines. It's all ace, read on.

Your editorial work doesn't just illustrate a story, it also helps tell the story. Talk us through the creative process from brief to newsstand.
It's as logical as answering a school exercise: you're being given a problem and you have to solve it visually in the best way possible. My approach is quite pragmatic, not very romantic. I think that's why my work is often quite minimal. I try to keep it as simple as possible in order to have as much impact as possible. 

Visually, it needs to be very striking and capture one's attention, then it can elaborate and tell a story. This hierarchy in image reading is the base of my editorial work. Given the visual swarm, I try to make my work easily identifiable. 
MORE
We're loving British kid's magazine Anorak

We're loving British kid's magazine Anorak

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
We're big kids at heart. So it's no surprise we love British kid's magazine Anorak. The latest issue landed recently... and it's a double win for us: the cover's illustrated by Philadelphia-based Andy Rementer (legend!) and the issue has a cities theme (hello, we love hustle and bustle!). Think of this issue of Anorak as Monocle for the under 12s. 
It's a double thumbs up from us. Ch, ch, check it right out. Oh, BTW, the illustration inside the issue is by Lauren Humphrey.

click for larger image

Anorak_Spine.jpgAnorak_Inside.jpg

An Interview With The New Yorker Creative Director Wyatt Mitchell

An Interview With The New Yorker Creative Director Wyatt Mitchell

Thumbnail image for chipingym.jpg
Regular contributor (and all-round magazine legend!) Bob Newman spoke with The New Yorker creative director Wyatt Mitchell for the new issue of Gym Class. Here's an extract from their conversation.

Bob: You've worked with some amazing creative directors: Florian Bachleda at Vibe and Scott Dadich at WIRED, to name just two. What lessons did you learn from them, and how were you able to apply that to your work?

Wyatt: Very simple. They are the two hardest-working people I've ever worked with. I learned a lot from them. Most importantly, I learned that exceptional work comes not only from talent, but also from working harder than everyone else. While it's a different type of design at The New Yorker, I'd like to think that I'm continuing that ethic and passing it on.
MORE
Kicking off the week with a little spice!

Kicking off the week with a little spice!

chipingym.jpg
Let's kick off our week of magazine aceness with a little spice. We love the three most recent covers of high-end, classy nudie magazine Odiseo. It's designed by the award-winning Barcelona-based Folch Studio, and the three most recent covers have been confronting (issue two), laugh-out-loud funny (issue three), and lovingly romantic (issue four).

We touched based with Folch Studio's founder Albert Folch to get the lowdown.
MORE
Welcome our guest editor for the week: Gym Class Magazine's Steven Gregor

Welcome our guest editor for the week: Gym Class Magazine's Steven Gregor

Me2bw.jpg
Hi, I'm Steven Gregor and I publish Gym Class. It's a quality fanzine about magazines and the peeps who make them. I also curate the Gym Class Instagram feed. It's a showcase of some of my favorite magazines and a celebration of top-form indie and mainstream editorial design.

Guess what! The fine folk at SPD have handed me the keys to spg.org. Amaze! (Note to self: don't break anything.)

All week I'll be presenting some of my favorite magazine covers right here on the SPD blog. Stay tuned... there will be plenty of ace magazines to gawk at; some sweet Q&As with magazine folk; and even a couple of first-look exclusives. Fancy!

Oh, and did I mention the new issue of Gym Class has just today become available to pre-order? No? Well, it has! (Coincidence?) That's the newsstand cover above, illustrated by the all-amaze artist Noma Bar. Reserve your copy over at the Gym Class website.

(There's also an alternate limited edition cover by illustrator Alexander Wells. I'll show you that one a little later today.)

Also this week, the SPD will be publishing a few exclusive mag-tastic extracts from the new issue of Gym Class. It's all pretty exciting. It's gonna be fun. #MagLoversAhoy

Archives | SPD GUEST EDITOR: October 2014 »