GRÆS Magazine Issue One – Home

Background and Problem

A large majority of the world runs on digital content. Even I love to consume and design digital products. But there is a sort of counter movement that has been growing over the past decade – an increasing nostalgia for physical publications. This new wave isn’t made up of Vogue, People, or GQ lookalikes. Instead, these magazines are book-like. They’re usually made by smaller teams or even individuals and are printed on carefully selected quality paper. There is no major company involved, so there is a lot of freedom when it comes to both content and design. Limited copies are printed (anywhere from just 500 to 3,000 or more for the most popular ones) and they cover a large range of topics including design, feminism, football, illustration, coffee, adventures, travel, and much more.

Unfortunately, there are no indie magazines available that were specifically created for the polyglot / language enthusiast community (niche). Walk into any of the many magazine stores located in several major European cities and you will not find a ‘language magazine’. This leaves a hole in the growing market. 

Being someone who really enjoys reading content about languages and linguistics, I took it upon myself to create the first ever indie mag for this community.

I founded, funded, designed, and published GRÆS, an indie magazine “for multilingual minds” that focuses entirely on language and travel.

This first issue contains 116 pages of photography, writing, and illustration focusing on one theme: Home.

Process

After posting a job ad on upwork.com, an online marketplace for freelancers, I carefully read through all applications and selected the writers who submitted the most interesting article pitches.

I also contacted one particular author directly to request an update on a blog post that he had published several years ago. I was interested in how he might edit his article to be more up-to-date for 2019. He happily obliged. His article ‘Home. A Metaphor’ is a favorite of many GRÆS readers.

For photography and illustrations, I contacted the artists directly and also included my own work. Some were found on Instagram. I simply sent them emails or DMs to introduce myself, the project, and the possibility to collaborate. Others were found on the popular license-free photography site, unsplash.com.

The GRÆS Website was built using WordPress. I designed it based on the sites of some of my own favorite magazines, but in the end, it really has its own vibe. The whole site is very simple to navigate – there are only a handful of links in the top navigation menu. The first thing that the viewer sees is a video-as-hero image that displays the magazine in an extremely pleasant, comfortable setting, similar to how one might want to enjoy the product after purchasing it. I hired photographer Olga Segura to create this film.

Issue One – Finished Product

In GRÆS issue one, The authors and photographers let you in on their own interpretation of what home can be. Exploring this topic from the perspective of a world traveler, a linguaphile or both combined, the many contributors want to inspire new thoughts. Take the contents of these pages to enjoy, reflect upon and share with others.

Available for purchase on its official website and at select magazine stores around Europe and in Japan.

Printed in Berlin, Germany

[Promotional video shot and edited by Olga Segura]