15th of November~ No muscles, no tattoos

Text: No muscles, no tattoos

Authors: Alice Twemlow and Jop Van Bennekon for Eye Magazine 61:16 (published in 2006)

Available at: http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/no-muscles-no-tattoos

This text was wrote by Alice Twemlow, who is the founding chair of the SVA MFA Design Criticism and SVA MA Design Research, Writing & Criticism programs. She also often moderates and lectures at conferences and seminars. The article was first published at Eye Magazine, no. 61 vl.16, in 2006. Eye Magazine is a graphic design journal published quaternary for professional designer, design students or design enthusiastic.

Jop Van Bennekon (Image: http://thisisaerodrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/jop-vanbennekom-hero.jpg)

The text talks about Jop Van Bennekon, who is an art director, editor and designer responsible for important publications, such as Butt magazine, the Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman and Re-Magazine. Van Bennekon knew that working with alternative magazines in Amsterdam would be improbable, unless he started his own publication. Therefore, to ‘sort things out’ he started a postgraduate at Eyck Academy in Maastricht and from this experienced, he created and started the Re-Magazine, in 1997.

For Bennekon, one of the negative side-effects of working in a place with such a rich design culture as the Netherlands is that it can be a little predictable, and he did not want to live this life of, citing the text, ‘already know where you will be at the age of 45’. However, it was while he was working for Blvd magazine that he contacted Gert Jonkers, with whom he co-founded Butt magazine in 2001.

Gerts Jokers and Jop Van Bennekon (Image: http://assets.itsnicethat.com/system/files/102015/5613f1af7fa44c26d40002fa/images_slice_large/FM-itsnicethat-1.jpg?1444147645)

While growing up Van Bennekon did not have any magazines with which he could completely connect and feel represented as a gay man and with Butt magazine he could finally create for true people like Jokers and himself. He wanted it to be sincere, more realistic, and intimate, present real people in their real environments. Another important aspect of Butt magazine is that all the ads in the magazine are designed to fit the magazine itself, which allows the reading to be interrupted. Van Bennekon remembers that when he first hand draw the logos of the advertisers to the magazine most of them were not happy and did not pay for it, however nowadays brands are ‘eager’ to be at Butt. Butt magazine is now internationally knew and is read for ‘important’ people, such as Karl Lagerfeld and Tom Ford. For Andrew Sloat, cited in the article, Butt magazine is important because is about filling the gap of the lack representation. About Bennekon works he says: ‘Not being represented means you have to start something yourself that does represent you,’ he says

Later, Jop Bennekon decided to start investing in other publications and in 2005 he started the Fantastic Man magazine, that he created to deconstruct the idea of male models that were normally seen on fashion magazines. He wanted to have men who would be ‘fucking interesting’. This was another project born from personal interest, which he used, as he said, ‘to meet his Heros’.

In 2010 Jop and Gert together with editor Penny Martin started The Gentlewoman, which is a biannual magazine that celebrates modern women.

I think this read was very interesting and inspiring because I could learn about some magazines that I actually knew before and also because, for me, it talks about how our life background and personal interests can become large scale projects that speak and represent many people.

Re- magazine (Image: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/49/76/6d/49766d3f12380b8fb3be9f6caa0339f0.jpg)

Butt magazine (Image: http://www.parismechama.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/butt_magazine_compendium_va_gb_3d_04614_1408011104_id_829674.jpg)

The Gentlewoman magazine (Image: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3793/12663288485_767e2bb4bf_b.jpg)

References:

https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/jop-van-bennekom-gert-jonkers

http://designresearch.sva.edu/faculty/alice-twemlow/

http://thegentlewoman.co.uk/names/jop-van-bennekom

http://thegentlewoman.co.uk/about