Certain area magazines have lead me to believe that a real mag could never work here. Way back then, when word first broke that two.one.five magazine, the pet project of Tayyib Smith and Matthew Bacine, had intent to print and charge for subscriptions, I was dubious. Mass emails requesting payment were not convincing. After fucking around on the two.one.five blog, I was overwhelmed by the disorganization. Word, they kept their photographer busy and were snapping pics faster than you could throw a party, but how was I, frequent reader of blogs, unprepared to navigate the real content? It was ambitious; it was messy. I did not expect it to translate well into print. Not because I wanted to piss on anyone’s bushes, but I was being realistic. Any magazine journalism head knows where the money game is played. And it’s not in our backyard. After the jump, I’ll explain why two.one.five has second issue potential.

It’s not a question of faith in location that made me a non-believer in two.one.five. Yes, I’m annoyed at how it’s spelled, but I’ve taken punches for the name “Philebrity” before. It’s the outdated business model that fueled my skepticism. Simply put: Magazines lose money with paid subscriptions and make the most profit off of newsstand or full price purchases and advertising. Why was two.one.five demanding $20 from my New Clothes To Talk Shit In Account? Couldn’t it just be free, like my other subscriptions?

I didn’t pay up. When I saw free copies in a Pine St. shop weeks ago, I passed them by. It took a complimentary issue in the mail for me to cooperate. It was that or the South Philly Review.

Ah, the double-sided cover ploy. One half of the magazine gave us gritty, locally-grown, smart voices. Albeit, they tackled issues that have already been kissed, but they were readable and well-presented. Ads were tasteful and not meant solely for Mainline moms. There wasn’t an entire section of mind-melting real estate and spa nonsense. I was, you know, relieved. Proud, too. This was the best yet execution of a Philly magazine I had read.

I flipped it over, and the other section of two.one.five was the A&E. We get it, you guys can design a magazine. Our generation might even need all of the graphic bells and whistles, but it can be dizzying. An interview with Diplo that would have been heavily edited (a good half of it) elsewhere is left in its glory, but comes across as a heartful, honest man-to-man. If you like profiles, there were many, along with a fashion spread that blew me away, shot by M. Scott Whitson. It rivals anything you’d see in the fashion mag-a-verse of Vogue and W. I do not say these things lightly, but two.one.five, I would love for you to grace my coffee table.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 4th, 2008 at 12:10 pm.