Magazine Review: Monocle Issue 01

Here we are giving you are second more comprehensive magazine review in quite a short time and that is simply due to the fact that there seem to be some very good new ones out there. After Antenna Magazine, we now present you Monocle, a magazine with a very refreshing concept.
Most magazines out there either concentrate on more serious topics such as politics, world news, etc or you have the kind of magazines that you just flip through and where you just look at the pictures. Monocle is the brainchild of Tyler Brulé, the man who also created Wallpaper.
One can definitely say that you can not compare Monocle to anything else we have seen before. While they take a classic approach in terms of design, the concept is very innovative and refreshing. The magazine is split into several section: Affairs, Business, Culture, Design, Edits. Thus you actually read articles about the Japanese Maritime Force,  Analysis of the wardrobe of the Iranian President, Interview with the Lego CEO, Test of the new Business Class Jets but also about the new products getting into Beams, the latest Visvim editions and hotels. As you can see the mix is interesting. They have editorial that is very interesting to read, informative and educational, as well as well researched style tips and reports about upcoming brands.  We have never seen that before in any magazine.

It does not stop there. Right away from the first Issue on, Monocle has gotten together with some of the most talented Manga creators of Japan and created their very own Manga – KitaKoga. KitaKoga is also a great read and it is funny to see their product placements in the Manga. So you actually find the new Prada mobile phone in there cracking a code of a bomb and the new Audi TT roadster helping the super agent getting away. Already the Manga makes it worth the buy. Just like any original Manga you also read it from right to left!

One last point that struck us was the Porter collaboration. For the first Issue, Monocle got together with Porter of Japan and created an exclusive set of luggage that you can now purchase via their online store.
The network that Monocle must have is just incredible and that we can already say after the first Issue. The second Issue is right now getting into stores and we can only suggest you to get hold of it. If we had to say something negative about Monocle it would be the layout sometimes. Certain pages give so much information and carry so many articles that it can be confusing. On the other hand Monocle is also the first monthly magazine that will actually almost take you a month to actually entirely read.
See all the pictures of the magazine, the Manga and the Porter bags as well as page spreads after the jump.