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My first review of this year is a somewhat unusual one in that it’s of two issues of a magazine that aren’t actually available to buy, as they had already sold out when I received them.
It’s also the first time that I’ve been sent a magazine in a home-made envelope, the reverse side of which contained the face of its creator on an old gig poster. So it was that Wayne Alan Brenner recently sent me the first two issues of his virtuoso creation, Minerva’s Wreck. And they’re tremendous.
And so to my top magazine of the year (hey, it’s still 2010 over here). The winner is… Fire & Knives.
If I didn’t already know the resume of F&K‘s publisher and editor, Tim Hayward, I could probably have guessed it. Having graduated as a photographer, he became an advertising copywriter, and then an award-winning journalist and blogger with an ear for language as refined as his palette. A witty and memorable title, an eye for a great image, the confidence of a marketeer who knows the power of the understated, and above all a compilation of fantastic food writing in each quarterly issue. It’s the magazine he was made to make, and doesn’t he just do it well.
It went from crazy idea to marvellous example of the resurgence of print thanks to Cathy and Rob from Present Joys and Anorak. And so Fire & Knives, which first appeared in November 2009, is now put together by Tim, Rob and a very small team of others, working without a fixed office. The cover price is a very reasonable eight pounds, which is intended to cover printing and other basic costs. Tim offers his writers no payment but a light, skillful edit and the promise of being published in a beautiful, well-respected magazine.
While not frivolous, it also doesn’t take itself too seriously – as befits a magazine published by a company called Funistrada. The format is a pleasant-to-hold 167mm x 201mm (about 6.5inx8.25in), while the fantastically versatile Rob Lowe’s design is understated, easy to read, and very British (Keep Gill Sans and Carry On). Traditional food shots are discarded in favour of illustration and archive material. It carries no ads.
Above all, Fire and Knives prioritises its writing – which is of almost universally excellent quality, featuring many of the UK’s best food writers, who pen well-researched stories about personal experience or culinary history rather than celebrity and cliché.
It reads like the perfectionists’ labour of love that it is, and I’m very happy that it exists.
In the next few months, they’re branching out into one-day events. (For a sneak preview of what they won’t be showcasing, take a look at the amusing talk titles on the site in progress – quick, before they take it down)
I could keep on, but I have some champagne to open. So it is, Fire & Knives is officially the entirely-subjective, non-scientific, cos-I-say-so, first-ever Magtastic Blogsplosion Magazine of the Year. Yum.
Happy New Year, everyone.
Read Tim’s story of how he made Fire & Knives happen here.
Part Two of the tale here.
Subscribe to Fire & Knives here.
The second of my three magazines of the year is something of an eccentric choice, because I can’t actually read it. I already waxed lyrical about Der Wedding in this parish. since which a couple of German speakers have confirmed that the text is as imaginative and engaging as its design.
Ultimately, though, I fully admit that I’m giving it second place in my list as much for the magazine it is in my head, which I have been assured by others that it is: a genuine, remarkable way to give a troubled community a greater sense of itself, through innovative magazine-style storytelling that anyone can enjoy. Is it too much to ask for an English translation in 2011?
More pictures at my previous blogpost, at GuteSeiten and over at Slanted.
Der Wedding also won the inaugural (only?) GueSeiten-Award.
And so to my three magazines of the year.
#3: Bloomberg Businessweek
For a long time, Businessweek had some strong content, but framed within a magazine that tried to be a populist version of The Economist one week, and a simplified Popular Science the next. And then, when you tried to read it, you realised that half of the articles were actually aimed at those people who knew the difference between a bear market and a bond rush.
Following its buyout and renaming by the Mayor of New York, it radically changed its look and feel, without sacrificing its knowledge or economic authority. The magazine’s numbers soon turned around, and it is now one of the most interesting mainstream titles out there, with a witty design and strong imagery to match its content.
Though The Economist still has the edge in its global and political resources and commentary, Bloomberg Businessweek is better at drawing out broader life lessons from engaging tales of competition and management, and, crucially, using photography and design to show as well as tell. This is a magazine not just about ideas and movements, but about the people behind them, and it uses all the weapons at its disposal (including a decent commissioning budget) to make a compelling package.
It’s not without its missteps – the one-line summaries of already-short news items are often too truncated to be meaningful, while some company-focused articles can come across as a little lacking in critical analysis. It has also been criticized for dropping in mentions of the $18,000pa Bloomberg terminals that are the source of the company’s wealth. It would certainly be interesting to see how the title would report on a Bloomberg run for the presidency. Some illustrations could be accused of being a little over-frivolous. And, as a non-business/economics type, I have to admit to flicking past as many articles as I read in each issue.
However, what really elevates the publication to Magtastic Top Three status is the work of its talented design team, led by Richard Turley. This is the only newsstand magazine that repeatedly takes risks in its commissions, using illustration, photography, witty flowcharts, infographics and typography to play with the elements of each story. Nothing, not even the logo, is safe from its intelligent playfulness. Not everything works, but for a weekly magazine, its success rate is remarkable. Pretty much every issue contains an image or feature whose design is among the best things I’ve seen that month, easily besting those with four times as much lead time for their articles.
In the past eight months, what was a flagging niche title has become relevant and engaging. Whether or not you follow business, if you are interested in the witty, intelligent, clear design of complex stories, you need to follow Bloomberg Businessweek.
Click here for an excellent analysis of the magazine’s year.
As Jeremy notes, there’s plenty of ‘Top Covers of 2010′ lists floating around (including his own enjoyable one).
None, however, contain as many swearwords as mine, now published over at The Hospital Club. You certainly don’t see these magazines talked about over at Advertising Age. Enjoy!
UPDATE: (Ahem, it has been pointed out that one of them is from 2009. But it’s good enough to repeat. Right?)
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