>> I've just come off a Skype chat yakking about the ye olde blogs vs. magazines argument (not sure why this old chestnut is STILL coming up and knocking about but there you go... read the latest installment on Tavi's blog) and what I think magazines need to do to stick around. I'm no real authority on the matter but my feeling is that mags need to have that permanence about them, that feeling that you're reading in something that feels like it should be treasured and re-read or the images should make you want to frame them or linger a lot longer than a quick flick.
I was thinking I might be slowing down on the new magazine front but actually there has been a flux of new super-focused, fairly niche-led publications on the loose now; Lurve, Love Want, Sketchbook and Wanchor to name a few. New to the list is a fashion and arts bi-annual Twin that is launching 5th November. What was interesting to me was that helming the title is Becky Smith, founder and ex-creative director of Lula Magazine and looking at this taster of Twin, it's pretty far away from Lula, content-wise and stylistically which for some people, it's a good thing if you can't take heavy doses of girly dreamscapes, floaty frocks and err... Tennesse Thomas and Karen Elson.
For me personally, I'm already drawn to it with its pending profiles of photographers like Ryan McGinley and Niall O'Brien in the first issue. I also recognise a lot of names from working at Dazed; writers like Francesca Gavin who has freelanced for practically everyone, newer photographers like Mari Sarai and Carlotta Manaigo and stylists like Celestine Cooney. There's a roster of high calibre names from the art world that are also contributing; Miranda July, Seb Pantane and Sam Winston. In short, I'll be keeping an eye out for Twin in Borders when I'm on my next mag spree (just chucked out precisely 40 kg worth of old mags to make room for new ones...).
