I haven’t been this excited for the launch of a new magazine since, well, I think I’ve never been so curious to pick up the first issue of a new magazine. MONOCLE is the latest venture from Tyler Brûlé — Mr. WALLPAPER* himself, before he sold it years ago — and looks to mix the tried and true style guides of that previous magazine with a more serious political and business bent (with added online content that will only be accessible by subscription). The first issue, out today, features a cover story that looks at Japan’s rather powerful — and more and more inappropriately named — Maritime Self Defence Force. I’m passing through Shibuya tomorrow, so will definitely be picking up a copy at Tower Records.
Update
Well, today while I was in Shibuya I went to Tower Records, the ABC at the top of HMV, and the Libro/LIBROS in Parco, and didn’t find any copies of MONOCLE. Huh? Is it just taking a while before copies get to Tokyo?
Update 2
magCulture’s Jeremy offers a peek inside the issue.
“Tyler Brûlé to launch Monocle - a new global media brand
London -Monday 23 October 2006
Download PDF
English 988kb
Swedish 544kb
Japanese 228kb”
I like how the press release is avaliable in those 3 languages :)
That’s quite interesting!
Yes, Been waiting for this!
Especially I like that Swedish is one of the three languages :-)
I’m annoyed — I was really looking forward to picking up a copy today, but there were no sign of it anywhere in Shibuya.
Jean, there were three copies at the Tower in Shinjuku this evening when I was there. Looked like a great publication, but was also 2200 JPY. I decided to punt to see if it was available on Amazon first, but it appears that it isn’t, so I’ll probably head back and pick up a copy tomorrow.
Damn — wonder why I can’t get my hands on a copy! I guess I’ll wait until I pass through Shibuya again, and go to the Tower Records there again (I guess I went too early).
Oh, and of course, anyone who feels like buying me a subscription is very welcome to do so… Hehehe… My love would be eternal!
Picked this up today in the UK thanks to this post.
Absolutely beautiful piece of magazine design.
Everything I’m hearing about it sounds quite positive. Looks like Brûlé has got a winner on his hands!
I snagged a copy at the Tower in Shibuya tonight.. four on the shelf (now three). Sadly all four were in less-than-great condition… scratches on front and back cover, and what looked to be a knife nick on the top binding. For 2200++ I expected them to be in better shape. Alas, I purchased anyway. It is still beautiful.