Culture magazine Quottom in transition

It all started with an idea: At the end of 2012, the creators of Quottom wanted to launch an "honest and independent magazine" for their entire generation, as they told the media at the time. The cultural magazine was to combine life topics with art in a timeless way on a total of 250 pages. In each case, two umbrella topics are addressed photographically, artistically, in words and pictures. In the meantime, the project has become a project of the heart in full swing and the initial crew consisting of Nicolas Walker, Tanja Luchsinger and Ruben Feurer has expanded to a circle of ten. The magazine's editors have now been joined by Yves Sinka, David Khalat and Rebecca Gisler, and many more people have joined for Quottom online, event management and editorial. The magazine itself features well-known names such as Walter Pfeiffer and Yves Netzhammer, alongside as yet undiscovered authors and artists such as Philipp Dornbierer (Yehteh) and journalist and photographer Benjamin Hiller. "We notice very well through the work on Quottom that one is much better networked today and can also reach and inspire the artists directly," Nicolas Walker is pleased to say. He says that wasn't as possible in the past without the Internet. Especially since all the content is printed free of charge. A crowdfunding campaign on Wemakeit.ch made it possible to produce the first issue. Today, in addition to subscriptions, newsstand sales and advertisements, the magazine is financed by a publication party held at each publication. "The last event was attended by over 1,000 people," Walker is still enthusiastic today. Still, he says, they want to make the next event smaller, in a rustic restaurant for about 250 people. "For dinner, there's soup with Wienerli," he says with a grin.

"A contemporary cultural image that endures".

Quottom is also available at newsstands, in addition to cafés, galleries and bookstores. However, the magazine is not backed by a publisher. The makers are unanimous in wanting to remain independent. "We could consider expanding the commercial side with a strong partner in the future," says Yves Sinka, "as long as we don't lose our independence. Sinka is responsible for building up customer relations and is currently working intensively on the magazine's business model. Doing everything himself, however, would involve a lot of effort, especially the acquisition of advertisers. Not all processes and customer relationships are standardized in the same way yet. "It's simply the case that the more people you are in contact with, the more ads you can sell," says Sinka. And preferably, everyone would only join when things are already going great. "But Quottom as a magazine is generally a product that works, you could say, the processes in the editorial area are now running smoothly," he says. However, there is still a lot that can be done in the sales area, he adds. Sinka is nevertheless very satisfied with the performance so far: "We have a circulation of 3000 copies. "Nicolas Walker continues: "With the magazine, we don't just want to offer a platform for artists and authors. We want to make a product that represents a contemporary cultural image, in which current topics and also the unspoken are discussed. But at the same time, the magazine should also last - it shows the attitudes to topics that occupy the people of our time," he says. Therefore the topics are also very broadly selected: While the cover picture with the respective two topics gives merely a first impression, the content develops the entire range. "We have not defined the terms," explains Sinka. Only when reading the book should the reader be able to develop a picture of what is understood today by a term such as fear - viewed from different perspectives and under different influences.

Quottom, the practitioner school

At Quottom, the advertisements come first. They are all to be found right on the first pages. This gives the reader the impression of a magazine without any advertising at all. "We hide the advertising well," quips Yves Sinka. In truth, he says, they simply noticed that these were the most popular pages with advertisers. "We are learning more and more, Quottom is like a school for us," Sinka describes the work for the magazine. After four issues, for example, they now know much more precisely when the right time for publications is. The 10-member team has also now realized that their magazine was a little too big and heavy to read on the go. As a result, Quottom is now published four times a year and is becoming more manageable. "None of us had done a magazine before," Walker says. It was simply a matter of trying and learning something new every day, he says. "Our readers are also interested in knowledge, " Sinka appreciates. They are probably curious, attentive to what is happening in the world, and want to know how young people think, she says. The magazine wants to contradict the accusation that young people are not interested in anything other than going out and drinking themselves into a coma. "We're already world champions at that," Sinka quips, "but we can do other things, too." With the magazine one wants to show, "there are also young people, who put something on the legs". After all, a total of 60 people are involved in the entire Quottom process. "And the young also want to have their say - Quottom is one of the ways to do that," Sinka becomes serious again. Above all, that works at Quottom in a way that people can also feel connected to, Walker adds. This includes, above all, the right processing, without giving rise to the feeling of being "unaffected" - "and that's what we're here for.

Ursina mason

In a nutshell

The comprehensive cultural magazine Quottom is now published four times a year in a new size. The current issue will be on newsstands from October 3, 2014. The subject area: "Home and Madness". Each issue - with a circulation of 3000 copies - deals with two topics, and their intersection. The first three issues revolved around the themes of "Sexuality and Violence," "Chaos and Progress," "Fear and Desire" in the foreground. In each issue, text and artistic work intermingle. Quottom No. 5 will be published in January 2015, Issue 6 in April 2015. For 48 francs you get all 4 issues per year sent to your home. Requests for advertising opportunities to [email protected]