Design Federation

Peak Street Magazine is Australia’s newest hiphop street press mag. We caught up with designer Chad Mann to see what’s involved.

Why did you come up with the idea for a new hip-hop mag?
Well Peak Street is the brain child of David Edgley. It all started out as a radio show on SYN FM, and I got involved when Dave was looking for designers to help turn Peak Street into a magazine.

How will you compete with other mags such as XXL, The source, Vibe, Stealth mag, Acclaim etc?
We’ll of the ones you listed I only see Stealth as a direct competitor with their balance of who and what they feature in the mag. Both being Australian publications with a global view on hip hop, but I think we can both survive in the marketplace.

I think our interviews and articles will set us apart from the pack. choosing to have longer more indepth conversations with the artists gives you a better feel for their true view on things. So to me the writing is the strength, and then everyone who contributes on the visual side is backing up that writing with some great design and commissioned art.

In this age dominated by the internet, how will you get the kids to pick up a paper rather than check for the web version?
Well, we all love free shit, and Peak Street is FREE! So being a free press mag it’s easy to get into peoples homes from day one. We try to pack it cover to cover with dope interviews, articles, opinion pieces, artwork, photography and design, which you wouldn’t get the full effect of on the net. I think people still like a product they can hold, and hip hop heads are notorious collectors, so we are in pretty safe hands.

Tell us about the design process of the magazine.
Issue zero was a bit of a tedious process because we had no style guide and 3 designers in different places trying to collaborate to pull it all together. Not a recommended way of working but we got there in the end with a lot of back and forwards between us all. Was a true team effort. We got it published and the response was great, but we knew we needed to step it up in a couple areas for issue one.

So with that groundwork done I put together a style guide for issue one with the things that did work and now the magazine is evolving naturally and starting to really develop a strong style of its own. Dave puts a strong emphasis on the graphic side of this magazine, so whether its work the design team does, or the commissioned pieces we get from various artists around the world everyone is pushing out some great work.

who has been involved with the creation?
The total family is huge. Best thing to do is check the magazine credits to see who is involved. Number 1 Dave. Juggling everything from transcribing, editing, interviews, organising everyone else, re-editing when I need it, feeding 3 kids and keeping in the good books with his other half…most praise needs to go there. Then the core design team is myself, Nick Bazrow & Toby Caves. But a number of others have also contributed along the way.

There is a strong and diverse team of writers from the knowlegable Rob Ettleson to the downright crazy Bosco the Don, who happens to be a pigeon with a strong opinion. Countless people contribute art and photos, but if I start trying to name everyone and miss some one I’ll end up like Pac.
Should also mention that Shogun distrobution is an intergral part of getting this magazine shipped out across the country and into your hands.

Any advice for people who want to create a mag?
Do your research and get a realistic idea of how much work is involved. Its no small feat, so you’ll need good people around you to bust their arse for free. Be prepared to have at least one run in with the other half, and lose plenty of sleep. At the end of the day when its finished, printed and in peoples hands, its all worth it!

what are your long-term goals for the mag?
Its still early days with issue one just hitting the streets. The next year will really shape what happens with the magazine. We will bump distrobution up to 10,000 for the next issue and aim to get issues out more regularly and we also have some projects in the works away from the printed page, but I’ll keep that under wraps for now.

Will the mag stay free?
Dispite being told we should sell it countless times, and living on a staple diet of MiGoreng noodles, at the moment the plan is to stay free. But the obvious cost of producing a magazine of this size and quality can’t be ignored. So unfortunately, it really comes down to how much advertising support we get. As it is we are all still trying to hold down regular day jobs and do our own independent projects on the side, so Peak Street really is a labour of love and minimal sleep at the moment. So potential advertisers need to hit us up and support the cause.

Where do you think the local hiphop scene is at?
It’s strong. I think we are at the stage were the cultural cringe is disappearing and MC’s are releasing quality albums that the general public can get into. Now, not that I want hip hop cd’s to have Kyle Sandilans’ fuckin approval stickers on them, I think it just shows that the overall quality of Australian releases is rising. There are defiantly MC’s, producers & DJ’s in this country who are making world class hip hop.

What motivates/inspires you?
Biggest inspirations are music and the things I see in everyday life. Followed closely by artistic mates and people I work with. Just seeing how other people do things compared to how I would have done them triggers new thoughts that inspire me. As far as art I enjoy I’d say lowbrow art styles, comics, graffiti, art nouveau, a lot of illustration, intricate typography, calligraphy, tattoos, clothing graphics, retro design & defunct logos, I’ll leave it at that for now.

Where and when can we check out Peak Street?
Right now at all the good hip hop stores. A few copies pop up at JB hi-fi’s around the country aswell. But if you can’t find one hit up our website because there is always some very limited spares that get offloaded at a very fair price. We Plan to boost out distribution in the near future to make it easier for everyone to peg down a copy so keep your eyes peeled. But until then you’ll need to be real quick to snap up one of the 3000 floating around.

*****
If you havent picked up a copy of Peak Street, I strongly suggest you do, because what these guys have done is amazing. The mag is free, and the quality of the product is awesome. If you have never been involved in any sort of startup mag, you wouldnt know just how hard it is to make something like this work, especially without major funding from a parent company (ie a major publishing company). Lets keep the printed form alive and support locally produced product - Klaus
*****

www.peakstreet.com

design queries & comments can be sent to chad@peakstreet.com
all other peak street queries can be forwarded to david@peakstreet.com

All images accompanying Design Federation interviews are © Copyright of the interview subject and may not be reproduced without the permission of the owner.

Tags: art, Chad Mann, Fashion & Lifestyle, graf, graffiti, Hip-Hop. Street, hiphop, Peak Street Magazine, Urban