Top 10 independent magazines on Instagram
This post was published in May 2019. To stay up to date with the latest independent magazine news and reviews, sign up for our monthly email newsletter
Independent publishers love Instagram. It’s a way for them to showcase their best bits. It’s a way for them to give behind the scenes glimpses. And it’s a way for them to show people asleep on the floor (though that’s mainly a Huck thing).
There are some giants of the Instagram world (Cereal I’m looking at you) and plenty of minnows, but they’re all doing their own interesting things. So the following is my top 10 independent magazines on Instagram, regardless of the number of their followers.
Have I got the order right? Or startlingly wrong? As ever, I’d love to hear your thoughts…
10. Boat
The travel magazine that decamps to a different city each issue uses Instagram to show fans what they’re up to. I love the teasers – the latest set from Lima has got me waiting with bated breath for the next issue coming out.
09. VNA
VNA is the go-to magazine for photographs of the best street art, and their Instagram feed follows in the same vein. And it’s a two-way street – Instagram has also made it into the print magazine, with a new regular feature profiling their favourite street art Instagrammers.
08. Anorak
Mixing vintage children’s illustration with the latest from the magazine, Anorak has created a happy (and distinctly cool) world for kids on its Instagram feed. This cover preview says it all…
07. Huck
Surf, skate, art, and a surprising number of people sleeping on the floor. This shot of the team unloading the most recent issue at their London headquarters is a recent favourite – this is magazine making in the real world!
06. The Gourmand
They produce parties for pop stars, and travel the world collecting the best food photography, but this food / fashion series with napkins on heads is still my favourite.
05. Oh Comely
It’s hard to tell which of Oh Comely’s Instagram images are taken from the magazine, and which are snapped in the course of their quietly cool lives. Most of the time. This one is definitely from issue 13.
04. Little White Lies
The Little White Lies team Instagram their adventures around the world (the recent series from SXSW looked like a lot of fun) but it’s still their illustrations that provide the real highlight. Beautiful stuff.
03. Printed Pages
It’s really not fair when a magazine gets to draw on the world’s finest art and design as the subject for its Instagram feed, but that’s the reality with Printed Pages. Mind you, they also make amazing visuals of their own, like this gorgeous shot of the current issue, creatively stacked.
02. Cereal
Cereal has built a publishing empire on its minimalist, stripped back travel aesthetic, so it’s no surprise that their Instagram feed is phenomenally successful (114,000 followers and counting). This shot of features editor Robbie Lawrence’s birthday cake says it all. I for one have never made a birthday cake look this sophisticated.
01. Eye
Expect typographic oddities, magazine highlights and pieces of ‘accidental’ design spotted by Eye editor John L Walters on his wanderings around London. But best of all was this series showing the food issue at the printer – behind the scenes joy!
