Stack Awards 2018: Launch of the Year shortlist

If you’re looking to get a sense of the year in independent publishing, this category at the Stack Awards might be a handy place to start. Looking for titles that made a bright start in 2018, Launch of the Year wants to award quality publishing with exciting, inventive and unique new concepts.

Indie mag veterans Die Brueder and Steven Gregor of Gym Class will join forces to judge this category, and below you’ll find a bunch of vibrant, fresh titles that include a celebration of plantains and a feminist take on horror.

A Dance Mag | Beirut

Swirling in from Beirut, A Dance Mag provides a thoughtful and philosophical perspective on the act of dancing. Laid across melting, stippled gradients, their features range from Ketamine-induced epiphanies to the empowering exercise of moving your limbs.

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Issue 01: Transcendence, available now at: @magculture, London @athenaeumnieuwscentrum, Amsterdam . . . #adancemag #magazine #indiemags #indiemagazine #dance #availablenow

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A Profound Waste of Time | London

Inspired by video games, APWOT corrals illustrations, first-person essays and interviews that cover a range of human experiences, from creativity to mental health. As the name suggests, it wants to challenge the stigma our culture attaches to gaming — find out more about founder Caspian Whistler’s wish to humanise video games.

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And so it begins. APWOT will be sent out at the end of May. Pre-order on our website!#magazine #editorial #illustration #games #gaming #videogames #shovelknight #independentpublishing

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Archivio | Turin

Using materials sourced from government, personal and regional archives around the world, Archivio tells interesting and forgotten stories of years gone by.

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Hi there, all is finally ready for tomo! You're all invited to the official launch party in Milan at Santeria Paladini. thx to @volume_dischielibri and @santeriamilano, come and join us at 7pm! #archiviomagazine #hiddenmemories #archives #archivio #magazine

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Broccoli | Portland

Weed smoking today is still largely characterised by the airheaded stoner stereotype. Yet with legalisation, users of the plant — many for medicinal ends — warrant more than one strain of representation. Through art, nature, fashion and music, Broccoli magazine is refreshing the image of cannabis culture.

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It's time to let the secret out of the stash box: Issue 01 is being re-released! It'll be available alongside Issue 04, publishing in approx 6 weeks. Our debut issue sold out so quickly when we launched in November 2017, and over the past year we've had to increase our circulation significantly with every issue to keep up with the demand from readers around the world. We're floored by your support, and we're honored to be part of such a cool, weird, intelligent and fun community. We love you, Broccolinis! #broccolimag #womenandcannabis #indiepublishing

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Contra | London

Contra journal investigates representations of conflict in visual culture. The news is full of images showing the suffering caused by conflict, but it’s rare that we have the time to stop and ask what those images mean. Contra provides a dense and fascinating response, slowing down to tell nuanced stories that encourage the reader to think again about the images we see every day.

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Excited to present our first issue's second cover, with photography by Harley Weir @harleyweir. Our first issue will be available at our launch on 19th Jan @ Rich Mix, a copy included in the cost of the ticket. We will be exhibiting prints, photography and video exploring the theme of our first issue: Displacement. Ticket link in bio! Limited space at venue so get on it. no one turned away due to lack of funds: email [email protected] for concessions venue is wheelchair accessible @ourplace.studio See you there

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Eye on Design | New York

The AIGA Eye on Design blog launched in 2014, published by America’s oldest and largest design membership organisation and dedicated to telling long-form stories of design innovation. The site is full of smart and characterful design touches, and that same attention to detail has been carried into this new print venture, which comes packed with carefully considered flourishes to communicate its excitement and enthusiasm for the subject.

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Hello World! Our first ever print magazine celebrates graphic design just as much as the written word, and we’ve been longgg awaiting the chance to share it with you all.

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It’s Freezing in LA | London

IFILA! is a magazine with a fresh perspective on climate change. Too often, environmental discussion is polarised into one of two categories: the remote, technical language of science, or the hotheaded outrage of activism. This magazine finds a new ground, inviting contributors from all disciplines to give us their take on how climate change will affect – and is affecting – society.

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Look at these gorgeous photos @magma_books took of our first issue! You can spy the illustrations by @charlotte.ager, @matilda.ellis, @hollyveramills and @mattarmitageanimation and writing by @gracerichardsonbanks, @srleleanor and @gracieduncan. Head over to their shops to buy a copy in the flesh. – – – – – – – – – – – #ClimateChange#sustainable #eco #CSR #susty #Energy #CleanEnergy #RenewableEnergy #EcoMonday #Recycling #GreenTech #zerowaste #waste #plasticfree #recycling #circulareconomy #green #environment #temperature #ActOnClimate #OptOutside #Renewables #Go100Percent #FastFashion #windenergy #urbanagriculture #reuse #greenliving #greencity #globalwarming

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Jezga | London

Jezga magazine searches to define a new identity for post-Soviet Latvia through the art of creative Latvians both at home and living abroad. Find out more in our conversation about immigration and identity.

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COVER 2/2 @mmihelsons by @kristine.madjare and styled by @aritavarzinska Can be pre-ordered at our website or picked up at one of our launch parties

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Journal du Thé | London

An entire series dedicated to tea — that warm liquid inside a cup but also the acts surrounding it. It explores what is it that makes tea into this force which lets us slow down, granting serene moments in our lives.

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Chapter 1

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Matter magazine | London

Matter magazine takes a beautiful, touching look at living with brain injury. Published out of Headway East, a Hackney-based charity that works with people affected by brain injury, it combines essays, art, short stories and editorials by the centre’s members, staff and volunteers.

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Introducing MATTER – a brand new culture magazine created in collaboration with brain injury survivors. Covering fiction, art, music, food, philosophy and more, MATTER embraces what makes us different and what we share; the good, the bad and the ugly – and the true value of it all. Our members have been involved in all aspects of the process and we can’t wait to share it with you to kick off Action for Brain Injury Week (14-20th May). Find out more and buy your copy today at www.mattermag.org (link in bio)

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Nataal | London

African art, music and fashion burst out of Nataal magazine, an extremely confident piece of publishing with its 300+ pages crammed with people and organisations doing interesting things across the continent and beyond.

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Nataal's first double magazine cover revealed! Senegalese model Mame Thiane Camera prowls Dakar with photographer Julia Noni and stylist Naomi Miller for this very special shoot. See the full story in issue 1, out now. Photography Julia Noni (@julia_noni) Styling Naomi Miller (@millernaomi) Model Mame Thiane Camara (@mame.edamame) at Premier Model Management (@premiermodels) Production Arnault Kononow at Mini Title (@minititleltd), Alassane Sy and Baila Sy at Proxy Prod Photography assistance Aurele Ferrero, Masseck Diagne Design Direction Studio Johnston (@studiojohnston) Type Design Spencer Fenton Studio (@spencerfentonstudio ) Fashion assistance Hannah Ryan, Max Saward #Nataalmedia #Nataalmagazine #independentmagazines #print #magazine #publishing #futuregaze #outnow

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Oof | London

Billing itself as ‘the art and football magazine’, Oof investigates the places where art and football intersect.

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IT'S HERE! OOF is a brand new biannual magazine about art and football published by Time Out London art editor Eddy Frankel and @jhammondprojects director Justin Hammond. Issue one features Chris Ofili & Mario Balotelli, @hansulrichobrist talking to Rose Wylie about her football paintings, former hooligan @marcin_dudek back on his old stomping ground, a Q&A with cover star @petcortright and loads more. You can grab a copy on our website. Or why not take out a subscription and enjoy the unmitigated luxury of trotting down to breakfast and discovering the latest issue of OOF sitting patiently on your door mat? Either way, we appreciate your support. Please help spread the word and follow for offers, events and all the good stuff. Cheers! #OOF #Art #Football #Magazine #PetraCortright #MarcinDudek #LeoFitzmaurice #ChrisOfili #MarioBalotelli #RoseWylie #HansUlrichObrist #ZvonimirBoban #GeraldCains #KSCracovia #DinamoZagreb #RedStarBelgrade #NichePublishing

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Perfect Strangers | San Francisco

Perfect Strangers explores the cross-cultural. From artists to entrepreneurs, grandparents to lovers, they profile people who help to connect the world, looking at how cultures and languages, habits and ideas, styles and foods, intertwine and transform.

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Thrilled to receive another shipment of Issue One from our printer! There’s nothing quite like the look & feel of a pile of freshly printed magazines, is there? Thanks to the brilliant @humanafterallstudio and @em.o.gram for helping to make our first issue a reality. And to Mariana Duarte Silva and Lucy Crook for gracing the cover… but that’s a story for another post Pick up a copy via our website (link in bio)

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Plantain Papers | London

Plantain Papers goes out to the fryers, eaters and appreciators of the “most peng, accessible and dynamic fruit”.

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#plantainpapers out in the world. by @caligraphist

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Suspira | London

There’s an assumption that horror as a genre is predominantly male, and perspectives in the field have tended to please a male audience. Suspira wants to challenge that by looking at horror films and literature through a feminist lens, and this brilliant launch issue dissects everything from tackling inner demons to the sexual representation of the monster.

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Have you read the awesome reviews we've received from @creativebloqofficial @magloversahoy @magalleriabath? All links in bio and you can get your copy of the Monster Issue via our website suspiramagazine.com | @ritualcravt × × × #horrormagazine #suspiramagazine #indiepublishing #independentmagazines #horrorfiends #dreadfulpress #womeninhorror #womenwholovehorror #horroralldayeveryday #themonsterissue #famousmonsters #iteatsyoualive

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