Author Archive for Don

It’s a funny old Spiel

Published: 29 November, 2011 by Don in Mags we like.

Approaching football in a way that blends whimsy, intelligence, humour and style is nothing new – When Saturday Comes, Nick Hornby and others were doing it decades ago. But the very arty Spiel, sent in our regular lucky bag from Stack Magazines, is taking it to a new level.

A detailed account of the sport’s part in the often bloody history of Algeria is intriguing, though it’s a shame it only takes us up to 2001. There’s a great celebration of Brighton’s revival and an amusing account of an attempt to learn Italian by following a lowly team called Pro Vercelli – though the photos and illustrations facing the latter’s text have no apparent relevance to it.

Any fule kno that football was first played with a pig’s bladder – but Spiel actually tries it, which is rather admirable. Less welcome is a slightly daft poster on how to play conkers – it fails to hit the target.

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Common sense – spot the difference

Published: 17 September, 2010 by Don in Mags we like.


An excellent perk for anyone banking with Royal Bank of Scotland is the superb free magazine, Sense, which rivals any news-stand glossy in terms of photography and writing quality. It’s not exactly exclusive, though. Customers of NatWest, owned by RBS, get a great magazine, too. Also called Sense, it has the same cover picture and largely the same features inside. In the issues I perused, sponsorship deals dictate that the RBS version has a feature on golf, while the NatWest one goes for cricket. In the food section, Andrew Fairlie waxes lyrical for RBS customers while Nigel Slater does the same for their NatWest counterparts. It’s all nice work for publisher John Brown, which produces both Senses for RBS Group. It’s good for the readers, too, because economies of scale doubtless mean they get a better mag, featuring bigger names, than they would otherwise. But it does feel slightly odd to see both versions – which must happen in a fair few households. And it must be a nightmare for whoever has the job of ensuring that no logos or corporate slogans creep into the wrong publication.

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A bit rich

Published: 16 September, 2010 by Don in Uncategorized and We're not convinced.

It’s sometimes said that a magazine’s adverts tell you more about the readers than the editorial content – certainly that’s true of, say, the Sunday Telegraph magazine, which is likely to run interviews with edgy grime artists in between its ads for stairlifts and gardeners’ kneepads. So who do you think would be reading a mag crammed with ads for Aston Martins, luxury whirlpool baths, diamonds, Rolex watches and home security systems? Yes that’s right – footballers. The organ in question is The Players Club, official publication of the players’ union, the PFA – and in this case the editorial does actually tally closely with the ads. Too closely for comfort, at times, with many of the pictures used in the ads cropping up again in nearby editorial. The whole shamelessly opulent package does rather undermine the notion of a trade union publication being there to battle on behalf of the downtrodden.

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New balls

Published: 6 September, 2010 by Don in We're not convinced.

It’s always nice to see a new running mag, but I fear Men’s Running may hit the wall sooner than you can say “Grease up my nipples”. Not only is it laced with dated, sub-Loaded fnarr-fnarr phraseology like that (it’s aimed at ‘runners with balls’, would you believe), but by taking the monogendered approach it’s also depriving itself of half its potential readers and a fair chunk of its potential subject matter. Avoiding repetition is hard enough for Runner’s World, which can at least throw in the odd feature on running while pregnant, which sports bra to buy and why those beastly men insist on spitting so much. Besides, I’m not convinced that the kind of muscle-worship and preening to which this new title panders is actually that common in running circles, which are largely populated by scrawny characters with a healthy lack of interest in their appearance. Wild Bunch Media, who have launched Men’s Running, already do a title for women runners, so they have a vested interest in this division of the sexes. But nearly all running clubs and road races welcome runners with or without balls, and I’d have thought the whole subject is largely gender neutral. Oggi oggi oggi – why, why, why?

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New dawn for aurora

Published: 10 August, 2010 by Don in WeMakeMags.

aurora is back, brighter than ever. The sun seemed to have gone down on the compact and covetable in-flight magazine that we at CMYK produced for Highland Airways, when the airline itself ceased trading this year, battered by blizzards and volcanic ash clouds. But we are delighted that aurora has risen again, this time as a customer magazine for Highlands & Islands Airports. It’s on display at the company’s 11 airports, ranging from bustling Inverness to the achingly beautiful beach airport on Barra. Look out for it and help yourself to a copy if you’re flying from any HIA airport. Our summer issue has an insider’s view of the Western Isles, an interview with songstress and DJ Cerys Matthews, a piece on superfoods that won’t break the bank and much more besides.

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A Greek treasure

Published: 10 August, 2010 by Don in Mags we like.

Killing time in Athens airport last week, I picked up a free airport magazine called 2board. I flicked through, expecting puffery for the watches, perfumes and sundry cakes on sale all around me. Instead I marvelled at superb photographs, many of Greece, many not, and at absorbing features including one on The Gypsetters, a social group who had hitherto not crossed my radar. These affluent hippies, inspired by Lord Byron, wander the globe in Pucci kaftans, whatever they may be, and keep their American Express Black Cards in crocodile wallets. Nonsense, but enjoyable nonsense, and lavishly illustrated with portraits of  Gypset icons such as Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo and Brigitte Bardot. All this is seemingly documented in a book entitled Gypset Style, by Julia Chaplin, in case you want to know more. But 2boards real triumph is to look so good while running all its content in two languages – Greek and English. This is a devilishly difficult thing to do. I once had a friend who edited a tri-lingual industry magazine called Pumps, Pompes, Pumpen. He found it far from easy – and he didn’t have to worry about gorgeous layouts.

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