magCulture Podcast #5, London/New York

You can catch my favorite magazine moment of the year on the magCulture Podcast #5, available via Soundcloud. Hosted by Jeremy Leslie and Liv Siddall, and recorded at the magCulture Shop, the show features 10 magazine smarties sharing their year-end best. Included in the podcast is wisdom from Steven Gregor (Gym Class), Steve Watson (Stack), […]

: Alberta Magazine Awards 2018, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

I’m judging the magazine design category for the 2018 Alberta Magazine Awards. These awards honor the best magazines from Alberta and Western Canada. There’s a vibrant publishing scene in Alberta, including some outstanding indie magazines. More information on the Alberta Magazine Awards and a look at some of the magazines here.

Black History Magazines: South Africa’s Drum, 1950s

Drum was a South African weekly magazine founded in 1951. Initially called The African Drum, in the 1950s and 60s it was an important chronicler of black political and social life, and Drum‘s reporters covered many of the major anti-apartheid protests and events. They later branched out to publish East and West African editions. The […]

At Work With: Bob Newman, Newmanology

[Originally published by Magculture on November 18, 2013] Bob Newman is one of the key figures of contemporary US editorial design. Not only a prolific creative director  – Details, Fortune, Real Simple, Entertainment Weekly and New York are just a few of the magazines on his resumé – his generosity of spirit has been a […]

The Future of Publishing Is Now

This is an edited version of a talk presented to the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association annual conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on March 15, 2013. (Read a brief recap of this presentation on the AMPA website.) I’m sure you realize that this is a time of great change and challenge in the magazine business—no doubt the […]

Examining The Atlantic and The New Republic Redesigns

Several years ago the American Society of Magazine Editors held a panel discussion that talked about the role of design and art direction in magazines. The general consensus was that it was important, but not essential. The evening ended with one of the participants rattling off a list of magazines that were considered great (and […]