Spicy snack for mental hunger
Free Magazines: Basel-based copywriters and photographers are inventing a new format: Sodbrand combines a lifestyle magazine with free postcards.
Free magazines Basel-based copywriters and photographers invent a new format: Sodbrand merges the lifestyle magazine with free postcards From July, Basel residents will have Sodbrand - voluntarily and free of charge. Under this name, a group of young copywriters and photographers are launching a free magazine that doesn't want to be easily digestible: Sodbrand is the feeling in your stomach after eating a hearty kebab too quickly. "With everything and lots of spice!" is the motto of Sodbrand magazine. The intellectual gastric juices are stimulated with an unusual concept. The magazine is published bi-monthly in the form of thirty detachable cards measuring 210 by 105 millimetres. On the front is a photograph, on the back a text. The highlight: at first glance, the two articles have nothing to do with each other. The picture and text editors produce independently; articles and illustrations are arranged separately in a sequence. This results in random combinations. It is only the common theme of each issue - "Fever" in the July issue - that creates unplanned associations for the reader.
"Sodbrand gives images and texts full weight without weighing them down," is how the concept is described in the zero number. "It finds what would otherwise be lost. And breaks open what would otherwise stick together." The magazine therefore not only has readers, but also viewers who have to think about the relationship between image and word. The aim is to provide food for thought and inspiration.
With this idea, the creators of the Sodbrand association want to set themselves apart from the competition in the lifestyle media market. "Many authors and photographers feel that ordinary free magazines are dull in terms of content," says picture editor Benjamin Füglister. "They consist almost exclusively of advertising and editorial advertising."
But advertising also has its place at Sodbrand. Ten of the 30 cards are intended for advertising customers. The front and back are also available to them for creative use. However, the advertising should be clearly distinguishable from the editorial content, says Füglister.
The target group of the postcard magazine is urban people between the ages of 20 and 40 who are affluent, style-conscious and discerning. The aim is to provide culturally active people with aesthetic nourishment. You will find Sodbrand distributed free of charge in bars, clubs, stores and cultural venues in Basel. You can pocket one of the 3000 printed copies in its entirety or tear out individual subjects. The makers of Sodbrand are hoping that the collector's instinct will turn the cards into a trend or even a cult object.
If you want to own a guaranteed complete and immaculate collection, the magazine is also available in bookshops for 18.60 francs.
Each new edition of Sodbrand is to be celebrated with a party in a trendy Basel bar. Benjamin Füglister thinks this is a perfect fit: "You often have Sodbrand after a night of drinking."
Deliberately not easy to digest: the Sodbrand cards force you to read and see things in new ways.
"Sodbrand gives images and texts full weight without weighing them down," is how the concept is described in the zero number. "It finds what would otherwise be lost. And breaks open what would otherwise stick together." The magazine therefore not only has readers, but also viewers who have to think about the relationship between image and word. The aim is to provide food for thought and inspiration.
With this idea, the creators of the Sodbrand association want to set themselves apart from the competition in the lifestyle media market. "Many authors and photographers feel that ordinary free magazines are dull in terms of content," says picture editor Benjamin Füglister. "They consist almost exclusively of advertising and editorial advertising."
But advertising also has its place at Sodbrand. Ten of the 30 cards are intended for advertising customers. The front and back are also available to them for creative use. However, the advertising should be clearly distinguishable from the editorial content, says Füglister.
The target group of the postcard magazine is urban people between the ages of 20 and 40 who are affluent, style-conscious and discerning. The aim is to provide culturally active people with aesthetic nourishment. You will find Sodbrand distributed free of charge in bars, clubs, stores and cultural venues in Basel. You can pocket one of the 3000 printed copies in its entirety or tear out individual subjects. The makers of Sodbrand are hoping that the collector's instinct will turn the cards into a trend or even a cult object.
If you want to own a guaranteed complete and immaculate collection, the magazine is also available in bookshops for 18.60 francs.
Each new edition of Sodbrand is to be celebrated with a party in a trendy Basel bar. Benjamin Füglister thinks this is a perfect fit: "You often have Sodbrand after a night of drinking."
Deliberately not easy to digest: the Sodbrand cards force you to read and see things in new ways.
The front and back sides alternate randomly.
Stefano Monachesi
