MADE Quarterly
MADE Quarterly – a new print publication, created in Melbourne.
Features from MADE Quarterly, edition 1. Top – Sydney based FEIT footwear, bottom – an interior fitout by Swedish design studio, Form us With Love.
Features from MADE Quarterly, edition 1. Interview with Sydney based food photographer, blogger and author Katie Quinn Davies.
I picked up a beautiful indie magazine the other day – MADE Quarterly. MADE is a new publication, created in Melbourne by graphic designer Thomas Williams and his partner, creative consultant Amber Hourigan. Together they run design consultancy Hunt Studio.
If all this sounds a bit familiar, that’s probably because this clever pair are also behind the very popular Process Journal, now in it’s eighth edition. However, whilst Process Journal focuses on those doing great work in graphic design and print media, MADE Quarterly has broader appeal, covering the creative processes of inspiring creatives from any field, all over the world. The first edition covers a varied group of creative over achievers, including revered Sydney design team Dinosaur Designs and blogger / photographer / author Katie Quinn Davies of What Katie Ate, alongside a careful edit of international creative stars.
As you’d expect from a team with graphic design credentials, MADE is beautifully designed, utilising pared back page layouts and simple, striking typography. In additional, the advertising within is classy, relevant and very minimal (well, in issue 1 anyway!).
The first edition of MADE Quarterly is available now. It costs $20.00, and can be found at all good magazine stockists, or you can purchase it online here!
We asked Thomas Williams a few questions about this inspired new print project –
Can you tell us a little bit about MADE – what can readers expect to find inside, and what selection process goes into the creative you cover?
MADE is a publication about uncovering the inner workings and creative processes of inspirational people from around the world. The content of MADE is hand selected, and is not limited to any specific genre or creative discipline. Fundamentally our basic criterion is people who create incredible things and have an interesting story to tell. In our first edition this happens to include architecture, product design, photography, graphic design and even a feature from the culinary world!
In terms of our editorial direction we restrict our features to 10 – 12 in each edition, to ensure that we provide a comprehensive and in depth insight into each contributor. We are big believers in quality, not quantity!
Can you tell us a little bit about your backgrounds – what were you doing before laumched MADE, and what spurred you bring this project to life?
MADE is produced by myself and partner Amber Hourigan.
My background is in Graphic Design, after completing a Bachelor of Visual Communication in 2003 I went on to work at various studios around Melbourne. Amber’s background is in creative consulting, she has worked both in Australia and abroad across many industries (Fashion, Publishing, Media). Amber and I founded our design consultancy Hunt Studio in 2007 and in 2008 we started our first publication Process Journal (which is now in its eighth edition). Our skill sets have always been very complimentary and our partnership came about very organically. While we love working on our publications, our time is split between our publishing and consulting businesses.
After gaining momentum with Process Journal, we often discussed that it would be nice to branch outside of the world of graphic design with another publication that explored other creative disciplines. This, combined with the fact we are always looking for a new and exciting challenge, spurred us to have a crack at the publication we now know as MADE Quarterly!
How long has MADE been in development for?
MADE has been an idea of ours for a couple of years now. We’ve always had it in the back of our minds, but until recently have not had capacity to take on another publication project. Once we committed, the development of the first edition took approximately six months. Development of a first edition is always a sobering experience! Essentially acting as both creator and client there is a lot of time spent establishing what you want to the publication to be, how it looks and how you believe it will be perceived by your audience. Whoever said that designing for yourself is tougher than any client is a wise person indeed!
Who else is behind MADE – do you outsource any significant tasks, or is it all an in-house operation?
MADE is almost entirely produced in-house, including selection of content, liaising with contributors, writing of interviews, typesetting, layout and design. In terms of photography, we are fortunate enough that the majority of our contributors provide us beautiful images to work with, however we do create additional photography in-house ourselves. The only component of the publication which we outsource is the written content – we engage a small group of freelance writers to contribute to the publication, and our text/corrections editor.
Hunt Studio is the design consultancy side of our business, it is responsible for all commissioned client based projects, including other publications, branding and identity and web based projects. MADE (and our other publication Process Journal) serves as a great creative outlet for the studio, allowing us to experiment and have fun with the design without the traditional constraints of client based work.
Where can we buy MADE from and can we read it online?
At this stage MADE is a print only publication. We believe that there is great value and beauty in a printed publication and physical object. Given that our publication is mostly about people who create beautiful objects, it makes sense to us that the publication should be one itself!
MADE can be purchased from our online store at www.madequarterly.com, and is also available in approximately 150 independent bookstores and galleries both here and around the world!
What’s next for MADE?
Right now we are working on the second edition of MADE and eighth edition of Process Journal. Aside from our regular client work, we also have another publication project in works that we can’t say too much about, but you could say we are sailing into un-chartered waters, and that is what excites us the most!
Feature on Sydney based Dinosaur Designs from MADE Quarterly, edition 1.
