Big magazine: What's the big idea?

Graphis, Jan/Feb 2002 by Lin, Vance

What's the Big Idea? Attracting an international audience by giving art directors complete freedom proves to be big for Big magazine.

What would happen if you locked a roomful of creatives together and gave them free license to publish a magazine? No ad sales to consider, no editorial constraints... The only requirement? To be based on a country or a theme.

The result might be a magazine that has already been around for more than a decade, a magazine called Big that has gained a reputation within graphic arts circles, garnering awards and in many ways exceeding the ambitions that its title suggests. Indeed, Big has matured from an experiment in art direction into one of the leading publications to explore what can be told primarily through images.

Based in a cozy Tribeca loft in downtown Manhattan, Big manages an international roster of contributors-"Think Big" is their motto with 10-12 issues a year from such far flung locales as Japan, Iceland and Spain, to name a few. But nothing in their office seems to reflect that distance or the size of their task-no fancy plaques, designer furniture or Aeron chairs. With six full-time employees, the entire atmosphere echoes the laid-back, Mediterranean ethos of its founder. For Marcelo Junemann (founder/publisher/creative director) and the staff at Big, this little oasis is a testament to how such a small company has managed to publish so many issues without skipping a beat-with 6-7 issues in the works at any given moment, they even make it look easy.

Born in Chile in 1958,Junemann came from a family with a background in the visual arts-i.e. both parents are artists. When he was 15, his family moved to Spain, and shortly after finishing high school Jii,emann began working as a model. Incidentally, he became acquainted with the fashion/photography world-meeting friends and creatives who would later collaborate on Big. At 25, he started a location-van company and a year later he opened a printing company, from which he learned the publishing business.

It was during this period that the seeds for Big were planted. Tired of seeing the same glossy magazines with predictable visual content, Junemann wanted to create, in his own words, "A magazine unlike any other, driven not by ad sales, but by art direction." He also wanted to publish "beautiful images, printed in high quality," to which his expertise in the print business would be invaluable.

From this simple idea, Junemann has nurtured Big from a black & white, oversized format (hence the name Big) to its present state: in 4-color, 10-12 times a year, with approximately 140-160 pages per issue. In the beginning, says Junemann, "We printed 2000 copies and we got 1,700 copies back." Today, Big's global circulation has reached 50,000 and at $15 per copy, Junemann has managed to create a publication that people will desire and keep. When asked about the niche that Big fills in the industry, he even suggests that "People will value it because it's expensive," pointing to the trend in publishing to produce limited and collectible media.

In every issue of the magazine, one can expect to find a visual dissection of a different country, region or a theme. Apart from regular locales, such as the US, Japan, Brazil, Spain and other European countries, Big has also made it a point to explore visual cultures in more isolated or less documented communities such as Iceland, Chile and Australia (the latter two are forthcoming). Among some of the myriad and provocative themes that Big has tackled are: Tradition, the Sublime, Horror, and Space; as well as visual portfolios from photographers Nick Knight, Bob Richardson and Javier Vallhonrat; and an issue dedicated to the Brazillian supermodel Gisele Biindchen.

In a marketplace saturated with magazines vying for the consumer's attention, Doug Lloyd-an American art director who has worked on four issues including: Big #20: Music Fashion, Big #24: Space, Big #30: American Youth and most recently, Big #37: Celebration-describes Big as a "thinking man's visual magazine," where if it were the equivalent of The New Yorker, the stories are told through pictures rather than words. Lloyd elaborates, "A lot of magazines go after the same demographic: the trendy, smart, young reader, but a lot of them go directly for the fashion approach. Marcello wanted to broaden its appeal. To create a cultural magazine that tells a story about a place or an idea rather than saying it's about fashion."

By collaborating with top fashion photographers and art directors, Big manages to blend the fashion aesthetic with a documentary, fine-art sensibility, without selling anything but the image. And unlike publications such as Surface, Wallpaper or Nylon, there is rarely any direct mention of fashion, brand names or products within the content of the magazine itself. Nevertheless, the fashion advertisers have remained interested and supportive-Big receives 50% of its revenue from advertising, 35% from newsstands and 15% from subscriptions. This steady backing has allowed Big to address its subjects without ever having to put a Chanel or Armani dress in the picture.