We love Colophon - International Magazine Symposium Luxembourg

Megawords

Megawords

8 cover(s) available
view all

Issue 01 - Summer 2005

3 spread(s) available
view all

Megawords Magazine

Exploring the modern environment

Megawords Magazine is an experimental non-commercial magazine founded in 2005 by Anthony Smyrski and Dan Murphy. The magazine's mission is the exploration of the modern urban environment and the establishment of an open and active dialogue between the magazine and the community at large.

These ends were initially pursued through the mediums of print and photography. However in the recent months the scope of the project has expanded to include video, sound, and text, as well as the second tier of the project: Megawords Radio. The weekly online radio show has featured various musicians and DJ's from around the country, and has grown to become a vital part of the Megawords repetoire. This expansion into various media formats has allowed the Megawords project to take a greater role in the contemporary media sphere, and to more directly engage its local neighbors and the global community.

Megawords continues to publish a printed magazine twice a year, organize events and concerts, and broadcast a radio show every Thursday night.

Philadelphia, USA

3175 Belgrade Street, PA 19134

Email: info@megawordsmagazine.com

Category: Photography
Periodicity: Quarterly
Language: English
Circulation: 15,000
Price: Free
Web: http://www.megawordsmagazine.com

Founded in 2005

Exclusive Interview

Each issue comes together in a very organic process

What is your magazine about?
Megawords is an ongoing, collaborative artistic investigation by Murphy and Smyrski. Through their artwork, they address issues of community and document people surviving in cities all over the world. According to Murphy and Smyrski, Megawords strives to be a \"free\" magazine in the broadest sense of the word. Free of advertising for starters, but also free of any editorial format, legal owner or commercial purpose. What\'s left is a collection of interesting images, stories, people and documentary findings. They believe this material is powerful enough to speak for itself, which is why they present it with as little editorial framing as possible. Through conscious juxtaposition of images and text, Smyrski and Murphy invite the reader to draw their own conclusions. In their work, they attempt to spark thought and dialogue, and inspire a curiosity about the world outside one\'s immediate life, a curiosity that potentially will lead to understanding.

Who’s behind the project? Tell us about the founders, their backgrounds and their motivations!
Dan Murphy was born in Yeadon, Pennsylvannia in 1976. After leaving art school soon after starting, he began taking his hobby of documenting graffiti and his surroundings more seriously. This led to the publication of many zines and eventually to his first book, Stuck on the Map. Dan’s photography is now fueled by the need to fill the pages of Megawords with the most valid imagery he comes across in his daily life. He currently lives in the Germantown section of Philadelphia where he continues to archive his surroundings, produce art, and make music. Anthony Smyrski is an art director, consultant, and photographer. He is also the owner of Smyrski Creative, a graphic design/consultancy studio based in Philadelphia. He has worked on wide array of projects including Swindle magazine, numerous books for Thames and Hudson, PowerHouse, and Gingko press , and continues to work with a large roster of nationwide clients in both the cultural and commercial worlds, such as Deitch Projects, Steve Powers a.k.a ESPO, Scion, The Rosenbach Museum and Library, PUMA, The Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art(ICA), DALEK, The Jonathan Levine Gallery, Mike Giant and Creative Time. In 2005 Smyrski founded a critically acclaimed photography magazine called Megawords. Megawords has since published 5 quarterly issues and a recent audio-visual exhibition centered around the magazine itself received a very favorable review on the Artforum website. Megawords will also be featured in an upcoming issue of Anthem magazine this fall. That same year he co-founded Free News Projects with Max Lawrence. Free News Projects can be loosely defined as a publishing company and since its inception has published a retrospective of work by the stained glass artist Judith Schaechter, 2 short run artist books by Becky Suss and Liz Rywelski , released numerous vinyl picture disc music recordings with artists such as Dalek and ManMan. They are currently working on projects with GWAR, Matt Linas and Steve Powers. Smyrski is also the art director and project manager for all of Free New\'s ventures. In 2004 Smyrski was hired as the art director for Swindle Magazine. Swindle is he definitive popular culture and lifestyle publication of the 21st century. More than just reporting on culture, Swindle is dedicated to influencing culture through its content, content unlike anything else on the newsstands. The magazine was founded in 2004 by Shepard Fairey and Roger Gastman as an experiment in pushing the boundaries that have traditionally confined magazines. Since 2004, Swindle has grown to a circulation of 80,000, publishes 4 times a year in both soft cover and hardcover editions, and has been featured in the New York Times, Print Magazine, and The New York Times Style Magazine. In 2002 Smyrski was invited to a three-week residency at Fabrica, the Benetton creative research facility in Treviso, Italy. He is also a member of the Space 1026 Artist collective in Philadelphia and has been since 2003. An avid traveller, Smyrski has toured several countries including Thailand, Germany, The Czech Republic, France, Italy, Switzerland, England, Spain and Poland. While on these trips he keeps a photographic journal of the journey, and the spirit of travel and experiences gained while abroad often find their way into both his professional and personal work. When not abroad or at work, Smyrski is amateur pistol shooter and exercise enthusiast. He can be found hard at work in either Philadelphia, New York or Los Angeles, and currently resides in Philadelphia, where he owns his childhood home located in the working class blue collar neighborhood in which he grew up. For more visit www.smyrskicreative.com

How do you produce one issue? How much time do you spend on it? How big is your team?
Each issue comes together in a very organic process. We\'ll sift through photos, both our own and found, talk about things we\'ve seen or experienced, tell stories, listen to music. We\'ll slowly start to lay things out, and the pieces we pick start to tell a story. Its up to us to decide just what that story is, and how to help it along in order to communicate it in as clear a way as possible. We take about 2 months to put an issue together, and its just myself and Dan.

What are the key ingredients for the success of your magazine?
Our own observation and experiences.

What are the difficulties you are confronted with? What would be “the” thing to help the magazine to improve?
The most difficult things is the cost of production. Our magazine is free, and we have no advertising, so all of it comes out of pocket. We need some sort of patron who will fund the project, but remain completely silent, and that doesn\'t want to put his branding all over the magazine. Such an impossible task...

Tell us about your audience! Who are the readers of your magazine?
Our magazine is for everyone!

Is remaining independent important to you? Is it part of the strategy?
Yes extremely so. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do otherwise. It\'s an integral part of what Megawords is.

What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?
We have no advertising whatsoever in the magazine or on our website, so there is no relationship with or influence from advertising.

Do you think that magazine readers still need to watch TV?
Does anyone \"need\" to watch TV?

What is your relationship with your printer? Does he play a main role in your development?
We use a printer in Colorado called Signature Offset, they are a great help to us in determining our costs and the format of each issue. And they are an environmentally sound printer, that\'s a plus. Which magazines influence you most? What are you looking for in other magazines?

What do you think of your issue 01, when you look back at it?
I try to retain the freshness and energy of issue 01 with each new issue.

What question did you never ask in your magazine but would have liked to?
We are constantly asking questions with our magazine, so I don\'t want to answer this yet, as we still have time left to ask any unasked questions.

How many magazines do you buy / get / read each month? Do you qualify yourself as a maniac?
I subscribe to 3 magazines and maybe pick up a random 3 or 4 other magazines each month. I don\'t see myself as a maniac, its hard for me to find stuff that I can relate to or find interesting. There are a lot of publications out now discussing the same things, and I want something NEW!

E-mail interview from “29.09.2006”. © Colophon2007.com – Mike Koedinger Editions SA (Luxembourg)

Megawords is about life today, and it's much more of an art project for us than a typical commercial magazine.

Magazine favourite(s) from your childhood
Anthony Smyrski: I absolutely loved National Geographic!

Magazine favourite(s) that inspired you in your career
Major sources of inspiration for me are Colors magazine, New York Times style magazine, Paradis, older issues of Vogue, Eros, Twen, and Avant Garde.

Magazine favourite(s) now
Colors is at the top for me.

What else inspires and informs you?
Right now? French New Wave, films by Chris Marker and Werner Herzog, travel, trains, planes and ships.

Do you keep old copies of magazines? If so, what is your favourite in your collection?
I try to keep a small collections, my favs are the old copies of Avant Garde.

Choose three words to define your (favourite) magazine.
Striking, intergrity, timelessness.

Why do you work in magazines?
That's hard to say ... I suppose I enjoy the ability to communicate and the satisfaction of holding the finished product.

If currently involved in a magazine: What is the magazine about?
Megawords is about life today, and its much more of an art project for us than a typical commercial magazine. We're not nearly as constrained, and the content comes mostly from our interactions and experience in the world. Swindle is a pop-culture and arts magazine based in Los Angeles, and Next American City is a magazine that delivers investigative features, thoughtful essays,and it documents and conceives realistic solutions about how to make cities better.

Who reads it?
We hope everyone can identify on some level with Megawords! Swindle is read by a wide variety of taste-makers, artists, designers and musicians, while Next American City has a different audience, particularly young civic leaders, urban thinkers, and students and professionals interested in changing the city they live in.

How do you find innovative ways to talk to your readers?
By paying attention to them. You've got to listen first, then you'll know what to say and how to say it.

What do you like about the challenge of working in magazines?
I enjoy the challenge of finding the best way to communicate and idea to a large and diverse audience. Its really a privilege to have such a voice.

What don't you like about the challenge of working in magazines?
Having to deal with the constraints of advertising.

In five years, what will you be working on?
I'll always have a place in my heart for the tangible printed object, but I've already started to work in video and motion. There's lots to learn and explore, so it quite a lot of fun.

We are compiling answers from some of the most innovative magazine makers around the world today. Who else should we ask?

Finally, please give us a brief outline of your career:
Anthony Smyrski is an art director, designer, consultant, and independent book/magazine publisher, collaborating with an international clientele in both the cultural and commercial sectors. He has worked on a wide variety of design projects including Megawords and Swindle Magazines, and has art directed books for publishers such as Thames and Hudson, powerhouse, and Gingko Press. Other highly regarded clients include Maysles Films, Deitch Projects, Steve Powers, Scion, Roger Gastman, William Pym, The Rosenbach Museum and Library, Motorola, CLAW Money, Puma, The Institute of Contemporary Art/University of Pennsylvania, DALEK, Wesley Eisold, Jonathan Levine Gallery, Philagrafika, and Creative Time.
In 2005 Anthony partnered with Dan Murphy and founded the media entity Megawords. This encompasses a print publication, radio show, a touring multimedia installation, curated exhibitions, and the lauded book Public Wall Writing in Philadelphia. Through Megawords, they continue to explore their vision and environment through print, sound and motion.
During this same year, Anthony co-founded Free News Projects with Max Lawrence. Free News Projects is an independent publisher building a reputation on its close collaboration with artists, and an eye towards refined design and high-quality production materials. Since its inception, Free News Projects has published a number of titles, including a retrospective of work by stained glass artist Judith Schaechter, vinyl picture discs with artists such as DALEK and ManMan, and other specialty short run artist projects.
Anthony was hired as the art director for Swindle Magazine in 2004, the year of its conception. Shepard Fairey and Roger Gastman founded Swindle as an experiment in pushing the boundaries that have traditionally confined magazines. Swindle has since grown to a circulation of 100,000, publishes six times a year in both soft cover and hardcover editions, and has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Print Magazine, and The New York Times Style Magazine.

When and where did you start working in magazines?
I started working as the Art Director for Swindle in 2003.

What are the most significant titles you've worked on?
Up until now, Swindle magazine.

What are you working on right now?
I'm working as the Art Director for Next American city, and collaborating with Maysles Films on a book about their well-known documentary Grey Gardens. Should be an exciting year! E-mail interview from May 2008.