Freedom and creativity in Playground magazine
Auste Skrupskyte Cullbrand is creative director and editor-in-chief of Playground magazine, and we delivered her third issue to Stack subscribers in May this year. She grew up in Lithuania, “a country where freedom is not taken for granted”, and when we spoke at last month’s Stack Magazine Club, I was interested to hear how her nationality and her experiences growing up have contributed to her work today.
‘Freedom’ is the theme of this latest issue of Playground, but it’s a subtle presence. There are no grandstanding essays or passionate arguments in favour of democracy, and instead the magazine pushes creativity to the forefront. Time and again, interviewees speak about following their passions or interests, and reflecting on her own experience of what it means to be free, there’s a sense that she feels obliged to set the same example: “I feel like I have it, so I need to use it”.
That’s not to say that Playground magazine is all unfettered positivity, though. The first section is a report on the state of the creative industries, which canvassed opinion from 75 professionals across 32 cities in 21 countries, and returned a gloomy set of results. Half of respondents say they feel limited by financial and industry constraints; 92% say they have to compromise their creative freedom for financial stability; and words like ‘uncertain’, ‘confused’, and ‘doomed’ prevail.
The rest of the magazine can be understood as something of a riposte to this sobering start, and Auste explains that she and the team came to view it as a creative challenge, and an opportunity to present their vision of a better, more fulfilling and optimistic view of the world. Or, as the magazine’s cover puts it, ‘a manifesto for the creative industries’.
Take a look at the video below to see our full conversation, including her advice to anyone who’s currently thinking of starting their own creative project; “If you don’t do it, somebody else will!” And see how she and the team are slowly working their way towards the vision that they have for Playground magazine.
We select a different independent magazine every month and deliver it to our subscribers around the world, so if you want to get closer to great publishing, join our club and we’ll start sending our magazines to you, and we’ll invite you to join our conversations with the people who make them.
