ModMag NY Edition: Victory Journal

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