The renaissance of the printed magazine
In a stand against the age of technology, many independent magazines launched to prove that print wasn’t dead.
Print has long been staring death in the face. With the surge of popularity in all things digital, print was being eulogised and laid to rest in a papery grave before sales even started dipping.
However, in a stand against the age of technology, many independent magazines launched to prove that print wasn’t dead. They knew there would always be an interest in carefully curated pieces of print that offered something tactile and beautiful. They were right—the last decade has seen them thrive.
Akin to coffee table books, original photography, beautiful design and paper stock are all taken into careful consideration, not to mention unique and challenging writing.
However, this resurrection of print isn’t bucking the digital trend entirely—while the magazines extol the importance of a physical relationship with media, they also make great use of new technology such as crowd funding, online distribution and social media; the natural home for such curated content.
Here is a list of some of the best print magazines on the market, which are very much worth luxuriating over.
The Gentlewoman
The Gentlewoman, the sister magazine to Fantastic Man, is produced semi-annually and celebrates modern women of purpose, with a witty and intelligent approach. While their focus is on personal style, you are more like to see authors than models on their minimalist covers. Launched in 2010, it is published by the Dutch duo Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom and embraces a clean layout, classically chic fonts (such as Futura, Garamond and Avenir) as well as paper variations.
Migrant Journal
This six-issue publication, as the name suggests, tackles the fascinating and divisive topic of migration. It explores the worldwide circulation of people, goods, information as well as flora and fauna in order to investigate globalisation from every angle. Devised in 2015, when the migrant crisis was being discussed endlessly in the news without any in-depth analysis, each issue asks artists, journalists, academics, designers, architects and philosophers to rethink our approach to this complex topic. Editors Justinien Tribillon, Michaela Büsse and Dámaso Randulfe teamed up with Offshore Studio, formed by Isabel Seiffert and Christoph Miler who co-edit and create the beautiful design.
Apartamento
Founded in 2008, it is widely regarded as the world’s most influential interiors magazine. Apartamento embodies its international ethos, being published semi-annually from its headquarters in Barcelona and having offices in New York, Milan and Berlin. Tastefully curated, each issue takes an honest look at the way people live within well designed, beautifully photographed and engagingly written spreads.
Cereal
One of the world’s most beautiful magazines, Cereal is a semi-annual magazine, based in the United Kingdom. Each volume contains comprehensive accounts of food, travel, lifestyle and people through engaging interviews and recounted stories. A child of Kinfolk’s slow-living ethos, Cereal also embodies a minimalist calm, but its rapid growth is thanks to its original photography and first-person writing.
ALHAUS magazine
This printed magazine evolved as an arm of the independent content agency ALHAUS, who work in tandem with clients and brands to produce content that garners success. As a result, ALHAUS magazine is where curation meets content. It is a semi-annual publication devoted to design, technology, lifestyle and culture. Its priority in every issue is to highlight an important cause throughout the magazine as well as creating thoughtful editorial, original illustration and photography, all printed on beautiful paper.
Purchase Issue No. 3 of ALHAUS magazine, on sale now.