germany

You are currently browsing articles tagged germany.

Language Barriers 1/4: Der Wedding

October 26, 2010 in Clever ideas, Review | 3 comments

A pile of magazines is again building up. The fight goes on, regardless, to review, to compile, to process, to share.

Today, it’s the turn of a selection of four unusual magazines, all published in a language that I don’t understand. This means that I can’t tell you how well they’re written or how successfully they match image and design to narrative. They all, however, contain plenty for the linguistically challenged to enjoy.

First up, the third issue of Der Wedding. I mentioned this magazine a while back, without actually having seen a copy.

Now that I have, I still think that it is, as far as I can gather, a bit like Karen in that it shares tales of everyday people and places, in this case however all from within one of the poorest areas of Berlin (called Der Wedding).

Read the rest of this entry »

Not that kind of wedding

March 12, 2010 in Clever ideas, Trend | 2 comments

Der Wedding is an annual magazine about an everyday Berlin suburb. It’s also a conscious antidote to the trendy, hipster side of the city.

Just as Karen is “made out of the ordinary”, Der Wedding is, according to German magazine gurus GuteSeiten, “dedicated to the topics, events, items of everyday life and small stories that can be found right on the doorstep.”

It’s also rather lovingly designed too – images here borrowed from GuteSeiten, who have more on their site, as do Slanted.

Though I don’t speak German, it looks like a keeper.

UPDATE: GuteSeiten just gave Der Wedding their inaugural ‘mag of the year’ award at a pop-up magazine event in Berlin.

Almost live from a German airport newsstand

February 7, 2010 in Magazine covers, New launches, News round-up | 1 comment

Fewer updates this week as I’m out of town giving a talk here. However, one of the great things about European layovers in unexpected locations is the ability to kill time in a nearby Relay.

As I flew Lufthansa, I got a stop in Frankfurt. There were three Relays within about 500 feet of each other, all of which had a remarkable selection of magazines. It was good to see independents such as Kaiserin and S(nsfw) sitting alongside the usual fare. Here’s what else I spotted, and snapped with my iPhone:

Business magazine Brand Eins continues to stand out for its beautiful simplicity.

Sleek is doing something lovely with the page edges in their latest issue, themed ‘Food’. You can download it for free if you register here.

Swiss design mag idPure is always worth looking at. They’ve had a redesign of their cover since I last saw it. I like it a lot.

The first issue of Business Punk, the new G+J magazine that tries to meld economics and ladmags, was there. Lots of bright colours and shouty design about the most unexpected topics inside. However, I wasn’t able to find its stablemate, leaving me asking ‘Where’s the Beef?’

At least two charities have their own newsstand titles, both cleanly designed and filled with more content than just money-raising fayre.

And finally, a piece of honest explanation for the store’s top shelf. It was 6am, I was surrounded by wide-eyed people who, like me, had taken overnight flights, and yet I was in a happy place. Yes, I am a cheap date.

Building an independent media empire – exclusive interview

January 26, 2009 in interview | No comments

b20 publishing

“I guess I started a magazine because I knew almost nothing about print.”

It may not sound like the best time to buy an entire magazine, but that’s just what Lothar Eckstein has done. Twice.

The founder and editor-in-chief of sleek magazine, in November he bought two of his favourite independent magazines, Qvest and Luna, from German company Mediakom, to create a stable of three fashion magazines under the umbrella of B20 Publishing.

He talked exclusively to the Blogsplosion, sharing tales of independence, economies of scale and the future of magazine advertising.

Read the rest of this entry »