Magazine day! The Collective Issue #13

The Collective is different from other glossies. Not only is it beautifully designed (it makes great use of handwritten elements that are so very in at the moment) but it’s also thought-provoking and inspiring. It oozes calm and provides pages of affirmations that generate positivity.

This magazine doesn’t berate you from the newsstand. It doesn’t preach about ways to ‘fix’ yourself. Instead it invites you in for a cuppa and a chat and while you’re taking it easy it gives you a little lesson about people who are working to make this world better. Now that is my kind of read.

Pick of the articles:
The City of Lights – Paris in Four Months (Carin Olsson’s story – inspiring!)
Picking Her Brain – Maria Popova (I am a BIG fan of her website Brain Pickings)
Acing All Courts – a brilliant look at the career and brand of Maria Sharapova (this month’s gorgeous cover girl)

Connect with The Collective
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CollectiveHub
Twitter: @CollectiveHub
Instagram: @CollectiveHub

It’s magazine day! Inside Out August 2014

I love sitting down to read Inside Out. It is beyond awesome that the mag is now a monthly. We get to enjoy more home/interior/decorating goodness! Yay!

One thing you can always be assured of is the brilliant styling that goes into each feature/tte (I’ve chosen a few of my favourites below). I find that I can read Inside Out two or three times and still find new and interesting things that I might of missed on previous flicks through.

Are you a fan too?

ligature magazine

Have you missed me paper nerds? I’ve missed you. I’ve been working on a super special secret site but I’m back now with a backlog of lovely paper stuff to show you.

As you’re probably aware, I am a magazine fiend. The more obscure a magazine the better. I have a favourite newsagent (Garden City News represent) and I’m always finding little paper nuggets of wonder. This week I’m introducing you to ligature magazine.

New (to me) titles are a rare treat for me. I have my firm favourites (V Magazine, Phoenix, Elle, Vogue etc) and then there are the arty new finds like ligature. ligature is minimalist. It has no handwritten elements that are the design element du jour of the moment. It has no geometric or fluro/neon distractions. It is a peaceful read. Zen-like. There is a lot of room for white space which I love.

As I’ve said before minimalist design is so very hard to pull off. Some people believe that minimalism equates with ho hum boring or that it lacks the ability to hold a readers attention without a constant call to action (QR codes, apps to unlock behind the scenes footage, buy this, buy that). I disagree. Minimalism requires purity of the image. It gives readers the space to digest information, make of it what they will and move on. ligature does this very well.

As a magazine ligature is a slash – i.e. art slash design slash fashion. It straddles all of these labels well. I enjoyed the matte finish too. It was a change from the glossy glossies.

Loved ligature. I hope to see the next issue on the newsstands.



Porter magazine – Issue #1

I bought the very first issue of Porter about six weeks ago and have been meaning to blog about it ever since. You all know what a magazine addict I am. I buy everything from the obscure to the mundane. I’d heard about Porter a few days before its release down here in Australia and was really interested to see where the new glossy would fit within the market.

I pretty much devoured the whole issue in an hour. You can see how well read this mag is by that deep fold in the cover (see below).

Porter is a fashion mag. Being the child of Net-a-Porter, it couldn’t be anything else really. The features have been beautifully styled (especially the cover, shot by Dutch masters Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin of Gisele). There is a smattering of cultural commentary which is good to see. The only gripe I have, and it is a small one, is the font chosen for some of the single and double page fashion features. It looks like a grungy Courier and personally, I give it a big thumbs down because it is overpowering and ugly. When a font sticks out like that it ruins the flow of the piece. It tripped me up and stopped me from reading past the headline a couple of times. That’s not a good thing. Of course the mag is new and there might be some changes in terms of design in the second issue which is due out in a few weeks. If it were me I’d try and stick pretty close to the style elements used in The Edit. They work beautifully.

My opinion: if you like fashion mags you will love Porter. It’s a beautiful magazine and definitely worth forking out $12.95 for it.

Pretty, pretty magazines

It will come as no surprise that I’m a magazine addict. The more obscure the magazine the more I want it.

I tend to gravitate between fashion, literary and home mags. I find that glossies help me to come up with ideas when I’m writing ad copy because the ads in these magazines use few words. Fewer words means every single one is included for a reason. It’s cool to dissect the ads to see how they are crafted (perhaps that’s just a writer thing?).

Over the last few weeks I have been cataloguing my magazine collection into Evernote. I am in love with Evernote. If I have an idea for an article I can just search through my collection to see if anyone has written about it before. Genius stuff that will save me so much time!

I thought I’d share with you some of my favourite magazine covers from my current catalogue. Do you have a favourite magazine? Perhaps we can do a swap!

1. Harper’s Bazaar – December 2013
2. Elle Australia – February 2014
3. Belle – April/May 2013
4. Vogue – August 2013
5. Vogue Living – May/June 2013
6. Real Living – November 2013.
7. Harper’s Bazaar – March 2014
8. Frankie – January/February 2014
9. Suitcase – Autumn 2013
10. Phoenix – Summer 2013

Justus Magazine – Issue 3 is out!

The latest issue of Justus Magazine (Issue 3 – Enveloped in Varnish) is out and boy oh boy I really want to get my hands on a copy.

If you’re interested in print and design you really should take a look at this mag. It’s been designed with the print design industry in mind and features a multitude of specialty stock, printing and embellishment techniques.

In the latest issue, 11 design studios have been featured across Flourish (a section dedicated to showcasing inspiring print jobs), including Melbourne’s ERD, Perth’s Lost & Found, Sydney’s eskimo, Adelaide’s Voice and Queensland’s Fries Need Mayonnaise. Issue 03 also includes interviews with leading typographers, marketing managers and print production experts.

Want more info about this gorgeous mag? Visit www.justusmagazine.com.au or http://www.facebook.com/JustusMagazine.

(Image credit: Jackie Chan Photography www.jackiechan.com.au)

Uppercase Magazine Issue 17 – Special Stationery Issue

There are few things in life that I love (apart from family of course. Family is always first – above and beyond any list such as this). I love stationery, thunderstorms, magazines, music (especially Elliott Smith) and writing. Five things. This blog post contains three of my five favourite things (stationery, magazines and writing) and it’s all in honour of the latest issue of Uppercase magazine. Have you seen it? If you’re a paper nerd in any capacity you must get a copy and read it. It’s chock full of everything stationery related. It is beyond words but I will try my best to explain how awesome it is.

I work best in lists so here is a list of ten things I love about this issue. I could write a list of 100 things but perhaps you can get your hands on a copy and figure out the other 90 for yourself.

  1. It has a scratch and sniff portion on the cover. Scratch and sniff stickers were a big deal in the 80’s when I was a kid. I LOVE that they are making a comeback. I loved reading about them in this issue too. Mental note: buy this book.
  2. I loved reading the Kristina Karlsson feature.
  3. The Art of Engraving feature was really interesting and explained an intricate process and history very well.
  4. I loved the image of the drawers full of engraved monograms. I would love my own monogram – how cool would that be?!
  5. Carolyn Fraser explored the world of pen pals. I love pen pals (Hi Carla!) and I love letters. The world would be a better place if more letters were sent. I think they make the soul happy.
  6. Did you know you could order custom peel and stick wax seals online? I didn’t until I read Uppercase!
  7. The Q&A with Dinara Mirtalipova was pretty fascinating.
  8. The Stationery Guide was amazing. Reading through those 50 profiles was inspiring. I would imagine that the 10 Industry Insider tips would come in really handy if you are a stationer. Very interesting reading.
  9. Papercut Bindery where have you been all my life? Expect an order from me soon!
  10. Finally, I loved Donaville Herrick’s look at personal paper style.

Seriously, if you love paper get your hands on a copy of this. Grab your copy now over at Mag Nation – you won’t be disappointed.

(Special thanks to my friends at Mag Nation who gifted me a copy of Uppercase Issue 17 – Special Stationery Issue. Thank you!)

Win a copy of Bespoke Issue #4!


Bespoke is one of my very favourite new zines. Produced by the lovely Jessica Van Den, it’s full of stories, interviews, tutorials, recipes and heaps more. If you’re a lover of all things vintage/crafty/handmade/arty you’ll love it too.

Would you like to win a copy of Issue 4? Just leave a comment below and I’ll select someone at random next Wednesday 19th October. Yay! (This competition is open to readers anywhere in the world!)

Update: WINNER! Congratulations to Cate Elliott. A copy of Bespoke 4 will be winging its way to you. Stay tuned for lots more giveaways!

(Image credit: Bespoke.)

Paper Runway


Have you noticed that there are a lot of really cool e-Mag’s launching lately? One that relates specifically to paper lovers is Paper Runway. It’s released quarterly and is all about “paper goodness, hot paper products, fabulous features, beautiful paper, party inspirations, features about the hottest paper sculptors, artists, illustrators, creators and quick DIY projects“. The first issue was released just recently and it’s a must-read for paper lovers. I especially loved the feature they did on Elsie Larson’s engagement and wedding ephemera (so cute!). Check out the mag if you have a chance – it’s a great read.

(I just discovered, you can also buy paper copies, delivered straight to your door!)

[img credit: Paper Runway]