on line magazine love : small

Small Magazine is a quarterly publication dedicated to the whole idea of small - small people, small scale production, cute things for the small etc etc.  Now in production of the 18th issue, the editors of Small were onto something really BIG when they launched the online magazine back in  early 2007.  Did they know how many would follow in their little footsteps?

images from the current issue, no. 17

The philosophy at small however has remained true to its little beginnings; a strong focus on independant fashion styled with delightful whimsy, adorable small handmade objects and toys from around the world and illustrations by incredibly talented and sometimes yet to be discovered artists.

A few quick questions with Olivia, one of Small's editors.

You were certainly one of the pioneers in the blogosphere of online magazines, what do you think about the explosion of online publishing in the magazine format?

We think it is great that small scale and independent businesses and creative practitioners have many more places to find exposure. When we first conceived of Small, kids businesses that could not afford major advertising could not get editorial exposures in the larger print magazines. As the larger magazines could not afford to be editorially independent they often used the same contributors for each issue and featured the same big brand items. Working online means our turn-around time is fast, we can be editorially independent and we can reach a far wider audience than we could in print.

Would you reveal a couple of your trade secrets eg. favourite blogs and websites?

Christine and I are magpies and collect inspiration and ideas from everywhere. Our blog, Smaller http://www.smallmagazine.typepad.com/smaller came about as a way of tracking all the ideas we had for the magazine between issues.

We do have lots of favorite websites as our inspirations are diverse! Some we keep going back to are Minor Details  for kids furniture and spatial inspiration, Simply Lovely  Sweet Fine Day  Kick Can and Conkers  and Handmade Charlotte for general inspiration, Pikaland for illustration, Design for Mankind and the Design Files for design inspiration and of course Etsy for new creative work. We love looking at other peoples work and ideas but we both have a particular aesthetic and idea about Small which we stay true to.

How do you manage running a magazine and being a mum?

I don't think I would have started the magazine if I was not a mum. My background was in design and teaching, but as I moved overseas and had three kids very close together I went quite quickly from having a busy professional and creative life to spending a lot more time at home and quite often on my own. The magazine became a way for me to keep being actively creative and also to be in touch with interesting people when I was quite house bound.

Christine and I lived in different cities (New York and Dallas) and now in different countries (Australia and America) so it has always been a way for us to work on projects together. Now I my kids are older and I have a job and study I try to be more present and scheduled with what I am doing rather than constantly multi-tasking, but when the children where younger and would nap during the day, the magazine was a project I could pick up at any moment for as long as I had available.

Any advice for mothers starting out on their own?

I think it is important to be realistic about what you need to get out of any venture you are running from home or just starting up.Commercial viability has never been our first concern, (both Christine and I have other work) and for us it is more important we are creatively fulfilled by putting it together. Because of this we have managed to avoid a lot of the disappointments and compromises required to make creative projects sustainable.

in each issue, small magazine reveals lots of new & inspiring finds in 

the "something" and "play" pages

Being in a partnership has been a really important aspect for me. We have both pushed each other to extend ourselves but can also cover for each other if one of us needs to step back for a while due to our other commitments.

What does the future hold for small?

We are moving to six issues a year from the next issue and will probably start doing specialty publications, maybe a photo book and a cook book to start with. We have some other plans in the works but its a bit early to know when they will be out at this stage.