Jean Snow [.net]

This Week in Magazines

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by

Jean Snow
in
  • Two new magazines this week, starting with a new entry in the design field, DESIGN ADDICT (1). It looks like this one is more of a mook (the next issue is planned for October), but the interior is all magazine. Certain parts of it seem to marry the KU:NEL esthetic (soft photography) with that of more traditional design magazines like CASA BRUTUS. In this inaugural issue we get a tour of “Nagi Noda’s Design Room” (which also makes an appearance in the next magazine in this entry), a look at “Trends in Design” (which felt like a who’s who of the designers that get featured at select shop Cïbone), and a rather large feature on Assistant (way to go, Megumi!)
  • Another new launch this week with the appearance of a Japanese edition of ROLLING STONE (1). Inside, you get a layout that is very reminiscent of the original magazine — and all the main articles (except for a piece on YMO/Sketch Show’s Yukihiro Takahashi) are just translated pieces from the US edition, even the album reviews — with a few “Japanese” add-ons, like fashion spreads (very catalogue-like, as seen in pretty much every Japanese men’s magazine) and things like a guide to Tokyo rock bars (how very BRUTUS). Who’s on the cover? Kurt Cobain! Rock on!
  • CASA BRUTUS (85) suggests that “Architecture” is “Japan’s New Mega Export.” Indeed, I couldn’t disagree after leafing through the exhaustive feature that covers pretty much every major architectural project being produced in the world under the guidance of Japanese architects. I was intrigued to see mention of a “Tianjin Housing Project” in China by Riken Yamamoto — Tianjin is the city where I studied the language as a student, and where I met my wife. The issue also boasts a striking red-on-white cover by Tsuyoshi Kusano.
  • This month’s issue of IDEA (321) is an absolute love letter to the “Works of Jan Tschichold 1902-74,” and truly something to be cherished — his mastery of the typographic arts is awe-inspiring.