From a family-run “famzine” to a 30p grime mag, it's October's Things

As the evenings draw a little closer and the days have gotten colder, the It’s Nice That studio received an abundance of autumn/winter publications to warm the cockles. This month’s Things presents the content that kept us cosy, from brand new sparkling magazines to zines that took us back to 1976.

Rubbish Famzine

This publication had our studio pouring over its delicacy in awe. Rubbish is a family-run magazine, hand crafted with care of design and content. A creation of the Lim family, its contributors are Pann the dad and his wife, daughter and son, developed together in editorial meetings.

This is their fifth issue, describing the life of Pann’s late father Lim Tiap Guan who passed away from liver cancer. Wrapped in their grandfather’s death certificate, this publication is honestly like no other. The detail and thought process behind its production is immense with collateral galore, including family photos printed from film slides, and uses various paper stocks, all hand-pinned together with family love. It provides an insight into their grandfather’s interests, including heartfelt details such as his love of parrots and music.

Glass magazine

Towards the end of September a new magazine for women Glass launched at New York’s Advertising Week. We were lucky enough to receive it in the weeks following and were enthralled by its interpretation of “exploring the current and future passions, motivations, aspirations, and behaviours of women.”

Created by J.Walter Thompson in partnership with Getty Images, Glass is a classic glossy mag. However it’s the content that elevates it into a very exciting publication. Built from J.Walter Thompson’s Women Index, a survey of more than 4500 women across nine countries, the wide ranging features result in something for everyone. By discussing themes that respond to the “fast-changing lives, tastes and lifestyles of women today and the conversation around what this will mean for brands, advertisers and businesses”, Glass is publication that looks to the future.

Into The Dirt

There aren’t many publications that provide an insight to an exhilarating scene of music that has swept the globe for the bargain price of 30p are there? Enter grime-based, Underground-funded zine Into The Dirt.

Into The Dirt was born in 2016 and “inspired by punk fanzines from 1976”. The publication displays grime, a genre that has aptly been described as the most enthralling genre of music since punk, appropriating the materials that made it so infamous. The joy of zines such as Sniffin’ Glue and Maximum Rock N Roll is their ability to be packed with thought-provoking content and ingenious design for a socialist price tag. 40 years after Sniffin’ Glue was first published, Into The Dirt represents the same ethos.

Football Stories

Northern publication Football Stories documents 11 charming stories of the sport in Sheffield. In a historical context Sheffield is “home to the world’s oldest football club, the world’s oldest football derby and the oldest football trophy”, and in this sense it’s fair to say that Sheffield is a city with the game ingrained. This publication celebrates this, shining a light on the family values of football, its sense of community and its ability to cross borders of language and conflict. “Football can pick you up, but it can drop you, too – the thinnest of lines between hope and despair. That’s why it’s the most exciting, life affirming way to spend a Saturday afternoon.”

Eeor Moo

Eeor Moo is a new children’s book by Jim Sutherland, depicting “a menagerie of wishful thinking”. Designed, set and printed by Jim and Kelvyn Laurence Smith at Mr.Smith’s Letterpress Workshop in Kennington, the book is hand printed in an edition of 1000, as a “series of rhymes about animals who dream of being other animals”. It features a sheep who dreamed of being a dog in charge of a rabbit desperate to fly. The result is a charming book that opens up the art of letterpress to a whole new audience.

Across the Freeland by Federico de Cicco

Across the Freeland is an illustrated book elaborating the use of images found on flags and coats of arms of countries around the world. “The adventure follows the journey of a central protagonist, whose appearance changes as he visits different territories and encounters a diverse cast of characters.” The book is one of illustrated research displaying Federico’s interest and determination to represent it exactly, using inks and acrylics in a delightful style. Federico explains that, “the complete project will reflect my view of the world as a unique whole that should be considered in terms of the division between states, dominions and other entities.”

Hexus

The second volume of Thogdin Ripley and Philippa Snow’s “occasional” magazine Hexus explores the title, Secret Agreements featuring work from Eric Basso, George Grosz, Jon Leon and the artwork of Penny Slinger, Leonard Silverberg, Erica Eyres and Sally Wright. Whether it be written or visual content each piece consistently represents "the theme not only to explore the more conventional ‘horror’ mores such as ritual and seance, but also to find the aberration in the everyday friendship of teenage girls, queasiness in the thick, high gloss of the perfect beach-front nightclub, and spectral light from the glow of the tanning salon bed.”

Designed by Joao Mota, the book is primarily monochrome with traditional serif typefaces and the occasional full colour photo for artworks. This publication is a treasure to hold and a perfect to read for the Halloween weekend.

Voyage Book 2 by Valentine Ammeux

Visual artist Valentine Ammeux sent us a sweet and personal package visualising her travels to South America. The book, posters and postcards of Voyage Book 2 display Valentine’s footage whilst in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. “I had been dreaming of this continent since reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez when I was 16”, the preface explains.

All shot on disposable cameras, each image is thought provoking in its sun soaked honesty. Although this was a decision made for mostly practical reasons, “I decided to travel as light – and lightly – as possible: no technological devices apart from a basic phone supposed to work internationally (but didn’t, as it turned out) and a disposable film camera.”

The result is a collection of photographs that appear as if they too have travelled the world, tumbled on treks, crossed borders and engaged in otherworldly conversations.