Good Reads: Rucksack Magazine. The Winter Issue

2018-03-18

Rucksack Magazine is the newest kid on the coffee table magazine block. With the release of its first issue the magazine stirred up quite some buzz on several websites I follow. I decided to get my hands on the magazine only to find out that most stockists were already sold out. Luckily I secured one of the last available issues from an online shop in England.

Rucksack MagazineFog & Forest

Design

First of all Rucksack Magazine is gorgeous. Carefully selected images and lots of whitespace made the magazine a joy to flick through. The typography is minimal and clean, thus not taking too much attention from the rich images. Headlines were the only thing that regularly changed between articles and once a headline even carried its own typeface and left me wondering if this was a mistake or intentional.
The paper is uncoated and pleasant to touch with a thick cover made of the same material that is often found in other coffee table magazines. The cover actually still looks as good as new even after carrying the magazine around in my backpack for several days.

Rucksack Magazine photo essay red coat

Content

The first thing that stands out from Rucksackmag is the monothematic nature of the journal. As the name suggests, everything in the first issue revolves around winter. Despite being monothematic I never felt any appetite for more diversity. It seems the magazine found just the right balance between stories, photo essays and interviews. The very first story by Daniel Alford put me under its spell because it reminded me of a trip to Scotland and I enjoyed most of the following articles aswell.
Another feature that stood out is a collaboration with Unsplash, a free photo database that the editors used to publish their favourite winter themed images. The editors mostly play a role as content curators throughout the magazine and remain in the background aside from that.

Rucksack Magazine - The Beauty of WinterRucksack Magazine photo essayRucksack Magazine - Winter in Lapland

Wrap-up

After spending some time with the bi-annual publication I have to say that Rucksack Magazine immediately earned a spot as one of my all time favourite travel related magazines out there. I am already looking forward to the second issue and consider becoming a regular customer if the editors manage to keep the quality consistent.

Rucksack Magazine