Behind-the-Scenes: The making of the magazine
Playground Issue 2 now available for pre-orders!
Playground readers,
Today is the happy summer day – Playground Magazine Issue 2 is now available for pre-orders!
This issue is particularly close to our hearts. We’ve poured our energy, insights, learnings and creativity after the first one into crafting something we truly hope you'll love reading.
The story behind the Issue 2
It was a weekend in March earlier this year that was meant to be dedicated to magazine production. Instead, it turned into a weekend of cancelling all my plans, jumping on the first flight, and rushing to be with my family, as I had just received the news that my grandpa had passed away. Somewhere in the midst of the grief, collecting hundreds and hundreds of childhood photos and reflecting on the connections between all the topics and people I was curious to feature in the magazine, I was able to step back and see a larger narrative that connected the dots of this issue — nostalgia, childhood, and how our memories influence what we create today.
Therefore, the second 112-page issue of Playground delves into childhood, memories, and nostalgia, exploring how they shape our thoughts and creations. It’s a beloved topic that many writers, illustrators, and interviewees have opened up about, sharing their musings and recollections. At its core, this issue is also about people finding their playgrounds and elements of play – sometimes needing to slow down, sometimes needing to play more, or to play by different rules.
In the midst of producing this magazine, we were joined by a new team member, which gave me the opportunity to reflect more on how we bring this publication to life. During this process, I noticed that many people are curious about how we do it. Long overdue, here is a sneak peek into the creative kitchen of how we make Playground.
PRINTING
Both the first and second issues began with a visit to our beloved printing house, Kopa. Setting up the parameters and understanding the “playground” we will work within is an essential part of the process. Printing was a topic I was extremely keen on but also very unfamiliar with before publishing our first issue.
Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable aspects — understanding the paper we will work with, the size and weight of the magazine, and the budget needed for print — makes the process feel very real. Bonus points: talking to experts in the field boosts your confidence and sparks new ideas.
For this issue, we’ve made a slight improvement to our cover paper, and we hope you’ll love it!
IDEATION & CONCEPT
The dream versus reality. I wish I had a day to sit, create mood boards, dream, and put all my ideas on the table. In reality, I rely on my Notes app, Notion, and saved items, trying to gather everything in the little glimpses of time I have. Somehow, in the middle of that beautifully messy creative process, you find the narrative and can see the bigger picture.
Once we figured that narrative this time, I created a creative direction document and shared it with the team, and later with contributors, along with ideas, to see how they would respond.
There is also this strange phenomenon in life: once you decide on a topic, you start noticing it everywhere around you, and interesting stories come your way.
One curious thing I have noticed is that for us, it’s not about deciding on a big topic first. Instead, it’s about identifying the small narratives that stick for Playground, and that we want to cover, then looking for patterns and noticing how the dots connect (the strategist in me). Concepts become less literal and more interesting that way, too.
COMMISSIONING
It’s a continuous process from start to finish. Myself and the team are always scouting for people and stories. I save and note down every person I find interesting for interviews or contributions, daily. Once the magazine production starts, I usually know about 70% of the people we will want to work with or talk to.
From then on, it’s a puzzle—I spend a lot of time and energy on it. I love curating, thinking about how each story contributes to another, but also to the whole. I also consider how each contributor adds their own unique angle.
The curatorial Playground lens focuses on Europe’s creative and cultural scene. I want to show and highlight how similar, yet different, our experiences can be. It’s about creating the tension magazines need.
If there’s one thing I’ve realised, it’s that I never think about one story or commission in its individuality. In my opinion, what makes a good editorial project or publication is a curious, slightly weird, slightly unexpected, but exciting “line-up”. It’s like a good festival.
I feel very proud we received a lot of feedback about this with the first issue, and I really hope this is what we continue delivering as we move forward. I promise Issue 2 is so exciting, stories from Copenhagen, London, and Stockholm to Vilnius and beyond!
PRODUCTION
Timeline. Due to other projects and team schedules, we have worked in a step-by-step approach. We commissioned and finalised one batch of content, edited it, and then handed it over to design. We then worked with the second batch and the third, and finally finalised the magazine as a whole. As this magazine is everyone’s side project, the team felt this approach worked really well.
Organisation. It looks messy, and goes something like this: Notion, where notes and ideas for commissions come to life, leads to Miro, where the flatplan and all notes about the magazine’s creative direction are kept, and then to Google Drive, where all texts, illustrations, and photography are edited, uploaded, and stored.
Later we use Google Docs for planning things, creating pre-views for distributors, planning communication.
COMMUNICATION
Communication is everything. There, I said it. Once the magazine is sent to print, the other big part of the project starts — bringing it to life. As with everything we do in studio playground, strategy, creativity, and communication have to meet in the middle to make a project interesting. Therefore, we spend a lot of time and energy planning our rollout, and we hope you love it too.
Keep your eyes here on Instagram and LinkedIn, and raise your hand if you’d like us to share the magazine’s communication strategy later in the year. This would really need a separate send-out.
DISTRIBUTION
Distribution is a game, but it’s very much a business. We currently handle about one-third of sales ourselves, from the actual sale to shipment from Stockholm. We also manage one-third of EU distribution ourselves, which means contacting stores, shipping, and selling to them. The remaining one-third of distribution for the UK, US, Canada, and Asia is handled by the fantastic team at Public Knowledge Books.
For me, distribution is not only a business but also very much a communication channel, a partnership strategy, and a means to build our community and reach. This might sound bold, but I think distribution is what partly transforms a publication into a real magazine, and I am forever grateful to the team and all the partners we have made and are continually making!
I hope this little intro gave a glimpse into how we make the print. Each chapter could be it’s own story, so depending on demands, we might look into expanding on topics later.
If you enjoy what we do, and ever wanted to support, this is a great time to do so.
Get your hands on our special purple issue, and be among the first to receive it! We ship to all of the EU, UK, Georgia, Ukraine and US.
Appreciate each and every reader, and am super grateful to land in your electronic and real mailboxes!
Until the next one,
Auste
The team behind the Issue 2
Creative Director & Editor-in-Chief Austė Skrupskytė Cullbrand
Art Direction & Design Deimantė Saulytė & Mykolas Saulytis
Editor Sophie Miskiw
Creative Producer Emilija Bumblauskaitė
Business Development & Distribution Nino Katcheishvili
Is there a digital version
This looks amazing