Best Independent Magazines will be described in this article. Instead of using your phone, pick up a gorgeous paper magazine!. You can choose from 12 delectably unique, independently published magazines that have been recommended by designers and artists just like you who adore the aroma of new paper. You already know that reading articles on your phone is bad for your eyes, and let’s face it, it’s just not a very enjoyable experience.
Even if it’s an interesting story, your pleasure of it is likely to be greatly interfered with by the interminable scrolling, obnoxious adverts, clickbait distractions, and social network rabbit holes.
If only information could be presented using technology that was user-friendly, where each word and image was carefully chosen, and you could see everything instantaneously, rather than having to wait for several pages to load. Now that you understand the irony, be honest with yourself: when was the last time you actually sat down with a beautifully designed, passionately crafted print magazine? If the response is “Too lengthy,” we advise that you make the necessary corrections as soon as feasible. You may read about 12 fantastic magazines in the article that follows.
These books, which were all separately created, reflect the heart and soul of their authors and editors. Therefore, reading these periodicals for a few of hours will be much more rewarding than blindly perusing social media sites like Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about running out of battery. In the meantime, if you need additional recommendations, the books on last year’s list are also highly recommended.
Special thanks go go to Unitom and Rare Mags, two regional independents who helped us put this together.
Best 12 Independent Magazines In 2023
Best 12 Independent Magazines For Creatives To Enjoy are explained here.
1. TypeOne
The bi-annual journal TypeOne explores subjects like culture, business, technology, innovation, and design via the use of creative type mediums. Also check Nitro PDF MAC Alternatives
It offers creatives relatable content from designers at all levels, inspirational stories, and fresh viewpoints on graphic design and typography, as well as practical advice from industry experts to help you develop your skill sets and advance your careers.
They collaborated with graphic design firm The Brand Identity as a guest editor for their most recent issue, #05.
The studio and its brilliant writing staff delve into a range of fascinating subjects, all of which revolve around the significance of typography and type design in the field of visual identity and branding.
2. Adbusters
It can be difficult to constantly thinking of fresh angles for print magazines month after issue. This is another Independent Magazines.
But Adbusters, an activist publication fighting consumerism since 1989, manages to do it.
Every edition focuses on a different sneaky tactic employed by Big Tech and Big Advertising, and issue #163 from the most recent edition is a prime example.
This edition makes a great and original focus on the development of AI art generators.
In other words, one side of the problem was produced artificially through prompts, and the other by real, breathing people.
The end product is a fierce intellectual conflict, and the two perspectives are portrayed in the diametrically opposed reversible covers.
3. Eye Magazine
This is a quarterly international magazine on graphic design and visual culture that has been published since 1990. It should not be confused with the political gossip publication Private Eye (commonly known as “The Eye”).
It was first started by graphic design and visual communication expert Rick Poynor, and it is now brought to you by editor John L. Walters through his desk and technology.
The most recent issue of Eye Magazine, #103, includes artwork from visual artists Harry Willock and Lucinda Rogers, as well as fine art photographer Garry Fabian Miller and Milanese communication design group Tomo Tomo.
The Congo crisis and Black Outdoor Art, a social initiative that uses donated billboard space as a platform for positive, artistic expression by black British creatives, are also covered in the features.
4. Counterpoint
Independent journalism and exquisite illustration come together in Counterpoint to create something special.
This is another Independent Magazines. Each issue of the publication, which is edited by printmaker and illustrator Bethany Thompson and journalist Sam Bradley, has a distinct topic and is jam-packed with insightful features, original writing, and stunning original artwork.
Each issue of Counterpoint is hand-bound and risograph printed in Edinburgh with soy-based inks on recyclable paper, giving each copy a distinctive look due to printing oddities.
Contributors split all earnings equally, and the book has been three times shortlisted for Stack’s Best Use of Illustration award.
Failure is the main theme of the most recent edition, #23.
It includes interviews with artists and gardeners, essays about desire, video games, and fatherhood, as well as recipes for upside-down cake. It is full of surprising, heartbreaking, and inspirational stories about overcoming failure.
5. Pressing Matters
Pressing Matters Magazine, a 100-page publication produced independently and founded by John Coe, focuses on the individuals, techniques, and passion that go into the practise of printmaking.
The magazine’s most recent edition, #20, is dedicated to colour.
This edition looks at what the tones and hues we use to create images say about ourselves and how we perceive the world, whether that’s through an experimental, abstract approach to image-making or by using colour to recall a scene or a mood.
Pressing Matters Magazine’s issue 20 also highlights the successes and setbacks that all creatives experience during their professional lives.
6. Backstage Talks
A magazine called Backstage Talks features informal but in-depth conversations on design and business. Also check How to Crop a Screenshot on Mac
Its premise is that as creatives, our choices affect and alter this complicated environment.
We must communicate if we are to make the best decisions.
This magazine is published by Milk, a multinational collaboration of journalists, editors, designers, communication strategists, project facilitators, illustrators, animators, makers, photographers and visual artists.
The latest edition, #106, offers a series of debates on design and business.
Any creative process needs a healthy dose of curiosity and excitement, but how can we achieve that, particularly in these uncertain and anxious times for the world?
Leading creatives are questioned in the publication on their processes, including Kenya Hara, Giorgia Lupi, David Zilber, Cas Holman, and Stefan Sagmeister.
7. Perfect
Perfect magazine is a quirky fashion publication that gives both major labels and independent producers an equal footing. This is another Independent Magazines.
This magazine is committed to altering the layout with every issue, giving each edition a distinctive flavour and collecting appeal.
As a tactile, sensual product that showcases stunning material, journalism, and advertising in an elevated way, it becomes a desirable thing in and of itself.
Their initial publication was a sizable square format constructed with premium papers and hand printing techniques.
In their most recent edition, #3, they made the decision to hold their first-ever annual awards, called #PerfectCelebration, to honour the accomplishments of the most notable personalities in culture, ranging from fashion, TV, and music to art, politics, and design.
8. The Entrepreneurs
The Entrepreneurs is Monocle’s guide to launching, enhancing, or transforming your business, providing you with a wealth of inspiration and ideas.
Therefore, this publication is for you whether you want to turn a business idea into reality or if you want to grow your current firm.
This is another Independent Magazines. The most recent issue, #6, explores the effectiveness of executive coaching, lists the slower-paced cities where businesses might thrive, and selects the top brand logos.
It also looks into entrepreneurs running two businesses at once, the African diaspora’s big wins in the wine retail industry, and accounts from Bali, Jalisco, and Sicily on how slow living and big earnings may coexist.
9. Courier
The bimonthly publication Courier is jam-packed with case studies, suggestions, tricks, and narratives about makers, dreamers, and creators who are improving their productivity and creating the life they love.
It has 100,000 readers and can be found in bookstores in Tokyo and supermarkets in Bangkok as well as co-working spaces in Atlanta and bodegas in Brooklyn.
The most recent Oct/Nov 2022 issue (#49) focuses on helping you create the business you want by providing expert guidance, recommendations, and insights, as well as motivation from brand founders to help you advance in both your personal and professional endeavours.
The new regulations of family business, generating buzz on TikTok, up-and-coming producers of natural wine, how to build a waitlist, and developing a transparent brand are just a few of the subjects covered.
10. BranD
An Asian publication with its headquarters in Hong Kong, BranD offers perspectives on creativity, branding, and visual communication. This is another Independent Magazines.
The focus of issue #62’s subject is to identify and address the most relevant issues facing designers after graduation. Also check security of mobile banking appsÂ
The magazine invited 15 up-and-coming designers and design studios from ten different nations to share their travels through in-depth career development files, reader-led focus groups, and a study on Dribbble-initiated trends in the design business.
11. Sociotype Journal
This highly recommended publication from Sociotype will appeal to everyone who enjoys stories about culture and society combined with gorgeous type.
This is another Independent Magazines. Every issue of the foundry’s printed magazine, which is published by the London-based studio Socio, acts as a type specimen as it examines a particular subject in one of its types.
Sociotype is typeset in the serif superfamily Gestura for its debut. The issue’s theme is appropriately named The Gesture, as you might imagine. Its description states, “When words fail, our hands do the talking.”
Expect to learn about raised fists, flicked Vs, power grips, VR mitts, cable knits, street gangs, flight attendants, sign language poetry, greasy fingers, strap hangers, and the definition of the word “thist” along with NASA.
12. Disco Pogo
Paul Benney and John Burgess, the original founders of the influential 1990s publication Jockey Slut, have launched a new bi-annual electronic music magazine called Disco Pogo.
It is a well-liked publication that was put on the market after a profitable Kickstarter last year. This is another Independent Magazines.
Issues one and two are now available. Issue two pays homage to acid house and includes tracks by Daniel Avery, Ashley Beedle, David Holmes, Donna Summer, Eddie Chacon, Erol Alkan’s Trash, Flesh at The Hacienda, and Honey Dijon, to mention a few.
