Stack Magazines

"They defied taboos, they attacked conventions... they caught a moment in time." Ian Birch is the author of Uncovered: Revolutionary Magazine Covers, an aural history of magazine cover design from 1958 to 2016. He spent his entire career in magazine publishing, working on the launches of titles including Grazia, Red, Heat and Closer, and in this conversation he draws on his decades of experience to chart the ways in which magazines have changed over the last 60 years. Beginning with One, the magazine for gay men published in 1958, and running right up to the relaunch of Esquire earlier this year, he considers the art and conventions of cover design, as well as the shifting role of the printed magazine in wider culture.

"Design cannot make a boring magazine interesting..." Audrey Fondecave is one of the editors of Too Much, the Japanese magazine that mixes art and architecture to create a poetic understanding of the spaces we inhabit. They call the resulting hybrid 'romantic geography', and each issue is exhaustively researched, drawing upon a wide pool of expert contributors to ensure that the ambitious editorial is as authoritative and provocative as possible. In this conversation, Audrey speaks about their process for creating the magazine, why it absolutely needs to exist as a physical object, and why she doesn't want it to last forever.

"I'm not going to kill your kids at night..." Valentina Egoavil Medina is the editor and creative director of Suspira, the magazine that views horror through a female lens. The first issue focused on monsters, seeking to understand what makes something monstrous; while the second issue was devoted to fetishism, exploring female sexual power in horror and beyond. In this conversation she speaks about the ideas behind the magazine, the twin frustrations that led her to making a magazine about horror, and the stuff that really scares her. We're sold out of the second issue, but you can still pick up copies of the award-winning first issue in the Stack shop: https://www.stackmagazines.com/product/suspira-issue-1/

"There are no bosses..." New Internationalist launched in 1973 to highlight the global inequalities that emerged as countries across the global south began to make their way in a post-colonial world. In the 1980s it adopted a non-hierarchical co-operative structure, and in 2017 it issued a community share offer, giving its readers the opportunity to buy a piece of the organisation. Buoyed by the success of its sale to its readers, last year the magazine embarked on the first major redesign in its history, relaunching last summer as a bimonthly magazine with a fresh and impactful new look. In this conversation, production editor Kelsi Farrington and co-editor Yohann Koshy explain the thinking behind last year's changes, the sometimes painful process of guiding a non-hierarchical organisation through such major transformation, and why they're doubling down on their coverage of human rights, international politics and social and environmental justice.

"It's not entirely a surprise, but it's a delightful provocation..." Penny Martin is the editor of The Gentlewoman, the phenomenally successful magazine that fills its pages with fascinating women and discerning fashion, all presented with a wry smile that sets it apart from the rest of the newsstand. Renowned for its iconic covers that have featured a wide range of stars including Angela Lansbury, Beyoncé and Simone Biles, it rejects standard tools like cover lines and garish colours, instead using characterful portrait photography and subtle design touches to create an impact. In this conversation Penny speaks about the slow-burn process of choosing their cover stars, the trust they place in their collaborators, and the way she knows that they've got a cover right. ("A magazine cover works for us if I end up shrieking with laughter every time I see it.")

"It's Donald Trump and Vivienne Westwood in the same image..." Naoise O'Keeffe is editor-in-chief of Hot Potato, an "alternative newspaper" that uses fashion photography and simple one-page explainers to engage younger readers in big, difficult subjects like Brexit, gun control and the rise of Donald Trump. Printed at tabloid size by Newspaper Club, it looks at first glance like a fairly standard newsprint magazine, but O'Keeffe and her designer Maude Vervenne have introduced a little creative chaos to make sure it stands out from the crowd. For example in this episode you'll hear Naoise explain why they decided to make virtually every spread in the magazine look like a cover, and why it was important that the writers and the photographers should never meet or speak to each other.

"It's totally out of my comfort zone, but I'm 100% okay with that..." Steven Gregor is the editor and publisher of Gym Class, the magazine that has evolved over the last 10 years to become the magazine-maker's magazine. He published the last issue in 2016 as a fond farewell to print, explaining that he couldn't afford to keep on losing money on his passion project. But the start of 2019 saw the return of Gym Class, again taking magazines as its core subject matter, but with some major changes that have pushed Steven and his project on into ambitious new territory. In this episode he speaks about the excitement that brought him back to publishing, the challenge (and rewards) of handing over creative direction to somebody else, and the magpie-like approach to publishing that has helped to make this latest iteration financially viable. We delivered this magazine to Stack subscribers in January 2019, but if you weren't on the mailing list you can head over to the Stack shop to pick up a copy for yourself: https://www.stackmagazines.com/product/gym-class-magazine-volume-2-issue-1/

"Let's just stay up until four in the morning..." Marc Holzenbecher is the publisher and executive editor of Still, the brilliantly eclectic arts and literary magazine based between Berlin and New York. In this conversation he speaks about the practical difficulties of working on a passion project with a team that is scattered across time zones, and about the thrill of producing something that's as close to perfect as it can be. We delivered this issue of Still to Stack subscribers in June last year and I spoke to Marc in May, shortly before the magazines arrived at our warehouse, but it has taken me nine months to post this episode because it took so much work to clean up the background noise! If you haven't already seen this one for yourself and you want to pick up a copy, head to the Stack shop to place your order: https://www.stackmagazines.com/product/still-issue-6/

"It feels like you can find everything on the internet, but that's just not true." Reagan Clare is the founder of Homesick magazine, the title that delves into archives to present previously unseen images and the stories of their creation. Going behind the scenes of the fashion, music, film and entertainment industries, each issue takes a tour of vintage pop culture from the 60s to the 90s, for a pre-internet exposé featuring fascinating characters you'd probably never otherwise have come across. We're hosting a launch party for the new issue at The Ace Hotel in Shoreditch on Thursday 7 February. So if you're in London and you'd like to come along, RSVP to reserve your free tickets and join us for a beer and a chat with Reagan herself: https://www.acehotel.com/london/events-and-spaces/calendar/2019-02-07/stack-homesick-launch/

"Don't do everything yourself – that's mad..." Recorded live at The Book Club in London on Tuesday 22 January, this extra-long episode focuses on some of the most common challenges encountered when publishing an independent magazine. Divided loosely into four sections that focus on funding, commissioning, production and distribution, followed by an audience Q&A, we devote an hour and a half to understanding the first-hand experiences of independent magazine makers. Our expert panel features Caspian Whistler, creative director and editor-in-chief of A Profound Waste of Time; Elisabeth Krohn, editor of Sabat, editorial advisor to Suspira, and co-founder of Dreadful Press; and Helen Jennings, editorial director of Nataal. And as always with independent publishing, you can expect open and honest conversation from people happy to share their expertise. This podcast is supported by Park Communications – tap into their printing expertise at https://www.parkcom.co.uk/