I am a sucker for a fabulous cover.  I love to wander the magazine racks at newsstands and just ponder the imagery and typography of the magazines, whether they are American or foreign, about fashion or design or even writing, targeted to men or women.....I just love the idea, the smell, the feeling of a good magazine.

Recently, I have discovered two new (to me) amazing magazines.

Monster Children
Monster Children is written in Australia, but certainly lends itself to the LA sensibility.  It comes in a horizontal format and is dense with imagery.  The pages have a heavy and printed feel to them.  The subject matter is often about artists, skateboarders, musicians, but the layout is unique and the typography very dynamic, graphic and outrageous.  The first issue I saw was guest edited by Mike D of the Beastie Boys, and he fit right into the pages.  Although the magazine is horizontal, the editors also use a lot of sideways type both throwing off the reader and drawing you in.  The Table of Contents are consistent across issues, and there always seems to be at least one semi-nude image of a beautiful model, yet the use of typography is strong and dynamic, with color bars, hidden letters, and lots of scale change.  I haven’t read many of the articles in Monster Children, but I immediately subscribed, and I love flipping through the pages.

Uppercase
Uppercase is a Canadian magazine dedicated to creativity and design, and often type.  I first heard about the Magazine on Twitter, as their posts are often playful and the images sucked me in.  The magazine is quarterly, and the twitter posts keep me excited to see the next issue, despite having to wait 3 months. The first issue I received was all about hand made type, and the layout was gorgeous.  I was particularly drawn to all of the pattern work - on the cover, on each feature, on the table of contents - always delicate but always dynamic.  Uppercase is an independent magazine, and seems to have a well of unique and creative articles and illustrations.  This magazine will forever be on my coffee table.