(Click the pictures to supersize :-D)
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This is the kind of magazine that sends you straight to magazine heaven. The cover is very simple and the look is very contemporary. I even thought it was a foreign mag!! That's the little danger of making a super magazine—most people might think it's a foreign mag and might skip it because of the price maybe? Or the content? or whatever. But hey, I think the days when local magazines look crappy are over. Local, Philippine-made magazines are starting to get their games up. It hurts in the pocket I tell you, it hurts. But magazines like these are worth your investment!
Flow is creativity put on paper, compiled and made into a magazine. This issue was curated, yes, shushal, CURATED by Miguel Rosales. If I got it right, every issue (released every quarter), there will be a different curator that would show his/her aesthetic/taste/style/what have you. You know Lula Magazine with Kirsten Dunst as guest editor? Something like that.
According the this issue's curator, he chose things that will show his passion for "contemporary design and urban development". He included features in the local art scene, be it in photography, video art, installation art, etc, and how it was recieved abroad.
Flow is like several art galleries rolled into one. The paper they used is really good, as well as the printing. Everything is world class...even the ads!
One minor (or major) thing that put me off is the use of foreign (or foreign-looking) models. Isn't the world is going crazy about other races (other than white)? hehe It could've been better if they featured more of our local models like Ana Sideco, Ria Bolivar, Anne Casas, etc. But I have to admit that it contributed to the international feel of the magazine. BUT in the event that they will feature blue chip models like Raquel Zimmerman, Iekielene Stange, Coco Rocha, Naomi Campbell, Liya Kebede or Jourdan Dunn I will not complain. HAHA! jk Of course, if that happens, I hope at least the photographer is Filipino (cue: When you wish upon a star...). If not for the unmistakably Filipino stuff like the Metropolitan theater..or the Metro Streets..or Manila bay...this magazine couuld easily be mistaken as foreign.
But, hey,can I just take out of my mind this idea that superb design, look, and feel is foreign? hehe This page is fantastic. And so are the other pages. Although it's a few steps away to text sturm und drang, I love how they had little or no restraints in the play of texts, paragraphs and photos, etc. It could be a little unreadable, but with little patience and eye-squinting, you'll ge able to decode it. hehehe (see first and second photo from the top, after the cover)
This conceot of "Pool City" in Manila is interesting. Imagine if it would happen no?
Even though this magazine is so mahalia (read: expensive) at P399 (it took me a few weeks before finally deciding it's worth the splurge) I think it's fantastic and it's worth my every centavo. (Do I sound like a broken record already with all that worth your moolah thing? LOL) It comes four times a year only, thankgoodness. If this was monthly, I might have to sell my extra kidney and start begging on the street!! hahaha
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Scans by Edrick
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