Music mags are often not particularly well-designed affairs, with pics usually playing second fiddle to wordy journos waxing lyrical over the latest artist one should be championing in order to avoid social defenestration.
So as fans of the well-designed, Esquire is currently enjoying Loud And Quiet, a free music paper launched by ex-NME picture editor Stuart Stubbs with the intention of allowing photographers, illustrators and writers a level of creative freedom they might not enjoy elsewhere.
The latest issue features Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan on the cover and inside, a left-field, X Factor-free, review of 2009, a great article on the continuing cool of French House and a nice look at DIY music flyer design.
It’s all resolutely indie but done with a visual literacy you’d expect of a designer (Lee Belcher) who can be found by day at Wallpaper* magazine. And while it’s printed on decidedly old skool music rag paper, the print stays on the page no matter how sweaty your fingers might be. Click here for a list of places you can find it.
