TODAY WE MEET INDHIRA ROJAS, FOUNDING EDITOR OF THE CALIFORNIA-BASED ANXY AS SHE AND THE ANXY TEAM START PLANNING THEIR THIRD EDITION. WHICH MAGAZINE DO YOU FIRST REMEMBER?
14:00 INDIE MAG SESSION
The first magazines I remember are from my student years at Parsons in New York. I had come to the US from the Dominican Republic, and was fascinated by the vast amount of publications available on the newsstands. NEW YORK magazine stood out to me, as it was a great way to get to know the city and the culture. I’m inspired by publications created by and for women. The eighth issue of RIPOSTE, with Ericka Hart was powerful—from the cover to her personal story. Also, the newly launched ROMANCE JOURNAL by studio RoandCo in New York. WAS THERE A PARTICULAR MAGAZINE THAT INSPIRED ANXY?
What inspired our approach with ANXY was the lack of publications in the market that covered mental health and personal stories through artful design and creative expression. The most popular mental health magazine in the US is PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, which tends to focus on advice, recommendations from therapists and other psychology-related concepts. We wanted to fill in the missing gap: expressing our inner experience. WHAT ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT AT WORK THIS WEEK?
Many things! My work is a combination of everything involving ANXY, plus the design consulting I do for our clients via our studio Anagraph. There is a lot to balance. We have a few projects that are just starting and I want to get those in motion. Then, we just received new swag from our printers (orange totes and t-shirts!). I’m excited to ship those to our ANXY fans. – HOPE BROTHERTON, MAGCULTURE JOURNAL, 02.05.18
When we featured VICTORY JOURNAL back in 2012, the large-format unbound pages made an immediate impression. Smaller magazines are cheaper to produce and easier to distribute, but VICTORY have retained the large page size and recently moved to perfect-binding; this tenth issue weighs in at an impressive 164 pages. The Brooklyn-based editorial team – the mag is published by design studio Doubleday and Cartwright – have carved a lovely niche for their sports mag. Instead of stats tables and fanboy portraiture, VICTORY revels in the glory and disappointment of sport, in the personal experiences, stories and memories of participants, and does so primarily through photography and art. The issue leads with a feature about seventies sports team mascots, as created by Muppets staffer Bonnie Erickson; this is a typical VICTORY piece and provides the front cover parody of a celebrating sportsman. Like all great editorial ideas it’s so surprisingly simple it’s remarkable nobody’s done it before. From the full colour agony of the US Open, to Cheryl Dunn’s black and white reportage from the Kentucky Derby, we see sport from every angle. We also get to read. Full-page images dominate but texts unapologetically fill whole pages too, such as a 1964 report from ESQUIRE about a boxing match (starkly illustrated by David Rathman). The design is no-nonsense and functional. Monochrome and efficient, the single touch of flambouyance is the contents list, The Ten, which spells out the highlights in a list of words, some directly linked, some more abstract, teasing the reader about the content. Other drawn images include a beautiful series of sports images by Raymond Pettibon and a set of works by contemporary artists, including a collage using yoga mats by Alex Ebstein. VICTORY JOURNAL has developed into a heavyweight proposition in more than just mass; this new issue pulls together a strong range of visual stories that add up to an unclichéd and fascinating record of the reality of sport, bridging the gap between the tabloid superstar and our amateur attempts to join in. — JEREMY LESLIE, MAGCULTURE JOURNAL, 01.16.16
