Being magazine shelved with other independent magazines
Inspired by the Humans of New York photography and interview continuous series, this magazine strives to present the beauty of Being human.
Being is a 275mm x 200mm independent print magazine, consisting of around pp. 130–150 per volume, with an online presence (website and blog) for readers to interact and be part of a community. Each biannually released volume will cover an aspect of being human, aiming to share what we at Being and the readers believe should be discussed and shown to the world to showcase being human as beautiful as it should be. The content and some of the branding will be tailored to the specific community or human aspect discussed in the magazine volume, creating a unique experience for the reader each time.
Some content included are photography series, artists, activists, reviews, interviews, some of the reader's stories and so much more. Being is made for a dive in and dive out experience. Readers can dip into the articles that most interest them in any order.
The full magazine
Creating a series
Each volume of Being delves into a different aspect of a beautiful part of being human, whether it be a particular community or a common experience we have as humans.
By having Being represent and be a platform for different communities, no matter the size, to speak about their experiences and promote their diverse work there is almost infinite themes to showcase in further volumes.
Cover series designs
A close up of the special finish of the reflective page
Displaying the special finish of the reflecting page
Using a cut out shape for the title to represent the content
Using a cut out shape for the title to represent the content
Paper stock
General paper (Elemental fire, 100gms)
Reading Being is a beautiful experience. The sleek white papers and white space created throughout depict this, leaving all the content raw and exposed on the page for the reader.
Clean and white paper creates elegance and beauty for the magazine. It shows Beings' clean and clear intentions to allow the content to speak for itself and showcase each other's stories and experiences of being human.
Special finishes
Being is truly proud and promotes the raw beauty of being human shows through its content. Since the content varies and is unique to the human aspect that the magazine covers the articles embrace special finishes when appropriate to bring a uniqueness to the article.
Main features
Cover feature
Each of Being’s volume covers will feature images that coincide with an article that is significant to the volume's theme.
For this first volume, we delve into the beauty of body imperfections. The cover features some of Brock Elbank’s photography series the beauty of freckles, which an article covers in the first few pages of the magazine.
This will be the first article in the magazine to be easily accessible and close to the cover to maintain a relevant connection.
Fold-out
The article will be unique to others in the magazine with the pages folding out to create a banner, showcasing more images or text depending on what is necessary for the content.
The article will be unique to others in the magazine with the pages folding out to create a banner, showcasing more images or text depending on what is necessary for the content.
People stories (a running feature)
Some people and their stories will be invited for a photo shoot to show their beauty. With their permission, their photos and story will be published in the next magazine.
Our running feature of ‘People Stories’ is where readers can submit their stories, via the blog on our website, in the hopes of being brought in for a photoshoot and chat to have their story featured.
People Stories blog
Being’s People Stories blog is here as a platform for people to share their story on a themed aspect of being human. This will be the theme of Being’s next quarterly magazine, with People Stories as its main running feature.
Previous People stories volume portals will continue to be open to the public to post after the submission deadline to be featured in the next volume. Writing and submitting to any of the volumes blogs can be accessed through Share your story in the navigation bar on the blog, along with linked conspicuously placed buttons around the blog and main website. To change/choose the volume theme, the user can click the arrow button placed next to the volume title to show a selectable drop-down menu of the available themes.
Beings blog creates a space for people to write, comment and share their and others' experiences on the theme of the next magazine volume.
Website
The website's purpose is to direct users to the People stories blog, along with an opportunity to buy the magazine. Branding will mainly stay consistent on the website, except on the release of a printed volume, at this point, the primary and secondary colour scheme of the website will be based on the magazine's primary colour.
User experience
Since the blog and the website overlap on both pages, to differentiate the buttons and their actions, different typefaces and colours are used to code them. For the main website, the primary colour is used along with the Adelle sanserif typeface, whereas for the blog the primary colour of the article, a dark pink, is used.
Since the blog and the website overlap on both pages, to differentiate the buttons and their actions, different typefaces and colours are used to code them. For the main website, the primary colour is used along with the Adelle sanserif typeface, whereas for the blog the primary colour of the article, a dark pink, is used.
Being website and blog walkthrough
Read more about Being in the pitch document