Busman’s holiday will mean no November issue of popular lifestyle magazine.
Independent lifestyle magazine Stranger will be taking a well earned break from publishing while the team put into place some exciting new changes.
Editor, Helen Gilchrist admits to wanting to "Shake things up." The format and style of the bi-monthly publication has stayed virtually the same since it was launched back in 2004. Helen went on to say with 16 issues behind her she was now ready to " push boundaries."
The first of the changes have already started to take place with a move of location from Falmouth to new offices in Penryn.
With new projects that included the September book Project this autumn, and present talks with new designers and writers, as well as a number of other events in the pipeline its obvious this break will still include plenty of brainstorming.
There will however be no changes made to the clear ethos that Helen and the team continuously strive for.
After working as a freelance journalist in London for the likes of Time Out, Adrenalin magazine and The Observer. Helen came up with the idea for the magazine and decided to return to her original home of Cornwall.
Drawing on her past and present contacts Helen used the "Stranger Dummy," a 16 page mock up of what the magazine would eventually look like, to help attract funding from both the Princes Trust and Objective One to pay for start up costs.
The draw of the first eight issues being free soon brought about a large readership. Demand for supplies grew to such an extent they needed to start charging for the magazine to cover printing costs. The cover cost presently stands at £1.50 a copy, which is relatively small if you look at the quality and content.
Being extremely environmentally and ethically driven was something Helen was very conscious of when she was setting up the magazine. Using only vegetable based inks, publishing on high quality recycled paper and specially bounded, Stranger is more like a book than a magazine.
It strives to be more than a 'read once' publication and therefore aim towards targeting an audience who will be inspired enough by its rootsy and raw graphics to want to hold on to or collect the magazine.
The idea that the magazine may be read more than once is especially appealing to Stranger advertisers who make up roughly 40-50% of the magazines overall revenue.
The magazine successfully fills the gap for the 18-40year old market with a balanced number of men to women readers. It covers all lifestyle matters with a southwest vibe, and attracts people who are interested in the creative industries such as music, film and the arts. It also covers sports such as snowboarding, surfing and skating.
Although primarily a southwest based publication, the magazine can be found in many out lets up and down the country, and as Helen told us, with the use of their online site the magazine is reaching as far as Alaska. "The power the Internet has in connecting people is amazing."
Stranger’s website is used to advertise the current issue, as well as publish material that the hard copy doesn't have room for, such as the Weekend Roundup, a listing for up and coming events. There is no duplication of features as they believe it’s important for people to actually buy the issues. The website therefore acts as a taster of what the magazine will contain.
Stranger doesn’t just stop at magazine publications to get its ethos out there. The team also organise tree planting parties, snowboarding trips, live music events and even has its own clothing range kernofornia.
With a readership of over 15,000, the website receiving over 400,000 hits a month, and a supply of the magazine appearing in over 180 prime outlets, they seem to have tapped into what it takes to produce a magazine with staying power.
It will be interesting to see what new projects they have up their sleeves, as the website says, watch this space....
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