Sodbrand
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CHF 60.– for 4 issues.
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claudio.miozzari@sodbrand.com
sodbrand – mit alles und viel scharf
Sodbrand is biannual postcard-magazine for photography and literature.
Basel, Switzerland
Auf dem Wolf 5, 4052
Email: benjamin.fueglister@sodbrand.com
- Category: Literature, Photography
- Periodicity: Bi-Annual
- Language: German
- Format: 210 x 105 mm
- Price: CHF 18.60
Founded in 2004 - No longer published
Exclusive Interview
“We do our magazine because we want to ask the questions we have in mind! “
What is your magazine about?
sodbrand is a magazine that deals with the relationship of photography and literature. sodbrand grabs you with photographs, literature and ideas. This innovative panorama-sized card magazine stands out among the pulp of other magazines and publications. sodbrand consists of 20–30 double-sided single cards bound in a booklet. Each card consists of a photograph on one side, while the backs contain one or three columns of text to seduce the reader. Every issue appears under a unique theme summed up in a single term portraying a central and multilayered aspect of life.
Who’s behind the project? Tell us about the founders, their backgrounds and their motivations!
sodbrand was founded in 2004 by a group of individuals working in the fields of journalism, photography and graphic design. It was everyone’s motivation to create an attractive new not yet seen medium despite the fact that media was full of articles and features about the drying out advertisement market.
How do you produce one issue? How much time do you spend on it? How big is your team?
We currently work in adhoc editorships. For every issue the project team appoints two editors in charge. One is responsible for text the other is responsible for photography. This is necessary as text and photography editorship does not know from each other what they are working on except for the common theme of the issue. In total about 6 people are involved in the production of one issue apart from the photographer and writers.
Which are the key ingredients for the success of your magazine?
Patience and motivation are the most crucial ingredients of the success of sodbrand.
What are the difficulties you are confronted with? What would be “the” thing to help the magazine to improve?
We are currently working on increasing the subscriptions to sodbrand, which will help us to loosen the dependence on advertisement/sponsors. After much consideration we came to the conclusion that this is the only way of more or less independent success of a magazine with our number of copies.
Where do you want the magazine to be in five years?
In five years sodbrand will be recognised not only in the German speaking geographical area but also through out Europe as the refreshing photography and literature magazine. We will count about 2500 subscriptions.
Tell us about your audience! Who are the readers of your magazine?
Our readers are a demanding and culturally conscious people between 23 and 45 years of age. They live in an urban environment and regularly make use of cultural events.
Is remaining independent important to you? Is it part of the strategy?
Remaining independent is a very crucial part of our strategy. It cannot be that big multinational companies dictate us what to write and therefore also appoint a certain audience. Nevertheless we are so far still dependent on sponsors and of course advertisement.
What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?
We try to avoid advertisement as much as possible and rather work with theme related sponsors and like that keep their influence at a minimum by pointing at the artistic freedom of our writers and photographers. So far advertising-driven-editorials were never a topic.
Do you think that magazine readers still need to watch TV?
… funny question. Magazines and Television are two completely different media. Reading a magazines demand the active process of actually reading it, where TV is a rather passive way of “entertainment”. I do not think that the two media are comparable on that level. Television can also be much more contemporary than a magazine - at least a print magazine – will ever be. Magazines are collectables – TV feeds the moment.
Which is your relationship with your printer? Does he play a main role in your development?
This is a very delicate point. Unfortunately we had to change our printer almost with every issue of sodbrand as there were always some unsolvable arguments either due to the delivery or quality of printing. In this way I guess one could say he plays a main role in our development.
Which magazines did influence you most? What are you looking for in other magazines?
There was no particular magazine that influenced us most in doing what we do except from maybe KULT. Currently I am looking at arts and literature magazines and the way they deal with the picture and text relationship.
What do you think of your issue 01, when you look back at it?
I love it! … No, of course not. It is full of formal and informal mistakes, which of course have been adjusted with issue #2. Nevertheless issue #1 was the most important and the one that made us believe in the success of sodbrand.
What question did you never ask in your magazine but would have liked to?
We do our magazine because we want to ask the questions we have in mind!
How many magazines do you buy / get / read each month? Do you qualify yourself a maniac?
I would not qualify myself a maniac but I get myself about 2-3 magazines every week, especially new publications.
E-mail interview from “12.07.2006”. © Colophon2007.com – Mike Koedinger Editions SA (Luxembourg)
Staff
Art director: Benjamin Füglister...
Text Editor, Marketing/Sales: Claudio Miozzari...
Photo Editor: Andreas Zimmermann...
Marketing/Sales: Felizitas Schaub...
Text Editor, PR: Miriam Glass...
Text Editor: Barbara Achermann...
Longterm Fundraising: Andrea Freund...
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