For the sake of indie magazines!

Each one is independent; each one is pursuing a different dream in a different place. They have one thing in common: their passion and obsession. Of course they are passionate and obsessed, who else would have thought of doing what they do?

Slanted Publishers, Karlsruhe 

What is it? Independent publisher of typography, contemporary art, design and photography.

Notes: The design and typography archives and images from the Slanted team's journey to different cities. If you want to learn about a city from a design perspective, or to meet its designers and understand the contemporary design scene, it is highly likely that you will want to pick up Slanted Magazine. Our favorite issues are the Athens issue that presents a surprising face of Athens that is usually known for its ancient history, and the Stockholm issue, demonstrating that Stockholm is far beyond the clichés it is famous for such as IKEA and its “clean” design.

Inspiration: Who else would have thought of reading a city through typography? Now, we can too. From now on, a walk through the apartment names and signs in our neighborhood is a must.

Please take one

Hamam, New Mexico

What is it? Independent magazine of "bathhouse culture" or "letting go”

Notes: Their graphic designer is from Istanbul (Okay Karadayılar), and editor-in-chief from New Mexico (Ekin Balcıoğlu). Inspired by the Turkish bathhouse culture, the magazine is designed to make reading a visual experience. The graphic language, which is in constant communication with the written content, is a key to enter the visual world the publication aims to establish. That is why it does not have a fixed layout. The design, even the logo, is created according to the theme. In line with its philosophy, it comes out when it feels like it, or rather, when the publication is completed. Our favorite issue: Naked. It is as meditative as a print magazine can promise to be in the 21st century.

Inspiration: It would be an exaggeration to say that there is no other practice as mind-opening as reflecting on the function of everyday objects and what they represent beyond their function. However, this method is really effective. Today, for example, the Turkish bath represents a culture and a state of mind far beyond a daily practice. Try reading between the lines of an everyday object or ritual you come across today. Copy Mc Guffin for objects.

SICK Magazines, Maine & London 

What is it? An independent journal that recognizes chronic diseases and disabilities as an identity and reflects on them.

Notes: Olivia Spring, the founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine, created SICK based on the idea that having a chronic illness is also an "identity". For as long as they can remember, being "sick" has been an important part of their identity, and they want to underline what differences can bring. The contributors to the magazine are all people with chronic illnesses and disabilities who are there to show this perspective and create freely.

Inspiration: Today, right now, what do we see as part of our identity? What adjectives do we use to identify a community, or our feeling that we are part of it? Do we still ask someone "where are you from" when we meet them? Do we wonder what they eat, how far they walk every day? What questions can we ask to get to know someone other than the first ones that come to mind? We want to understand how we can learn from each other and how we can come together and create by highlighting our different identities.

Meantime, Singapore

What is it? An independent magazine chasing the lost stories of Singapore.

Meantime: Meantime is not a sad-nostalgic magazine. It is nostalgic, but it looks at the past as an archive of today's stories, where it accepts what happened rather than reminisce about the past with longing and great appetite. The main hero is Singapore. Far from dealing with the history of the city in an academic language, it tells the history of Singapore through human stories that put a slight smile on your face. It draws its strength from its witty perspective and language, and the sincere and real stories it archives. Editor-in-chief Xue Qiang Pang, who believes that design should always support the story, thinks that the latest issue of Funny Stories, which was printed in 800 copies and designed as if the top left corner had been ripped off, is the best example of this. And frankly, so do we.

Inspiration: Pang uses human stories and humor as one of the most effective ways to travel through a city's cultural history. They dig through family albums to find love stories, or stories about the ban on long hair for men in Singapore, and conduct research to archive the cultural life of the city. Even an ordinary paragraph can take us on a journey in cultural memory. You have to find a photo and chase it now! A visit to your grandmother’s house is needed.

Xue Qiang Pang is telling about Meantime and Singapore

Journal Safar, Beirut & Montreal

What is it? Independent visual design and culture magazine based in Beirut and Montreal

Notes: Founded by Maya Moumne and Hatem Imam, the magazine, whose first issue was published in 2014, was created to offer an alternative to the traditional Western graphic design history and to increase the realities of the geography and language of design. Although it takes an oppositional stance on many issues, its main purpose is to start a dialog. Even though it is not easy in terms of design and operation, the fact that the magazine is bilingual means that this dialog can be initiated in both languages, not only among those who speak English or Arabic. Al Haya, published by the same team for a similar reason, focuses on the stories, realities, interests, struggles and work of Arab women in other parts of the world.

Inspiration: Moumne and Imam, who changed the design of the last three issues (Nostalgia, Migration, Power) and redefined Safar, are also designers. They even have a design office called Safar Studio. Therefore, design plays an important role in the narrative of the magazine. Publishing Arabic and English versions in one magazine is not only a design decision, but also a political one. In fact, when we talk about a certain geography, Safar emphasizes the importance of distributing what is being discussed and debated in the language spoken in that geography as much as possible. It wants to initiate transformation, not just archiving. It also invites us to think about alternative answers to the question "How can we succeed in transforming while archiving?"