Printed Matters #1: meat

Guess what – print still does matter. You can make an awesome online publication, but you won’t get further with it. Print has definitely not the same value it had at its peak. Thus, it has a different position now. Buying print magazines is luxury; owning and collecting them has turned to a lifestyle not everyone can afford. I remember times when I skipped lunch to owe a beautiful print magazine (however this didn’t help me lose that baby weight)

For queer publications however, it’s even a bigger struggle. That’s why I am excited to start Printed Matter series of interviews here and now.With every issue of Printed Matter I am researching theoretically and visually (based on their bedrooms and desks) what’s in printers’ heads.

First off, here is Adrian Lourie – the producer of meat zine – a visual candy catalog from the UK.

Why did you start to publish Meat?

I was always a big fan of Butt Magazine and Kink and Shoot Zine.  I started photographing lots of my friends and friends of friends in their underpants and I thought it would be fun to put it out there in print.

The best part of working on a print product?

Well in an age of digital media it’s lovely to make something tangible and collectable that people want to buy.

What makes Meat distinguishable from the other queer press?

It’s image driven.  There’s very little written content so it’s very visual.  It’s also all my own original content.

What print products can’t you live without?

I’m obsessed with glossy magazines; Arena Homme +, Fantastic Man, Vogue, World of Interiors, Schon.  Every month I’m seduced.

What newspapers or magazines have you subscribed?

I always Buy Paco y Manolo’s Kink.  I also trade meat for PinUps Mag.  I regularly buy the Saturday Guardian, mainly for Weekend Guardian Magazine and the Sunday Times, mainly for the suppliments.

3 things print can’t live without?

brilliant ideas
a personal voice
good marketing

What projects have you planned in the near future?

I’m working on meat six right now, which will be out at the end of January.

3 things I can find in your bag?

iPhone, my diary, and anything I happen to be reading, currently Diana Athill’s ‘Instead of a Book’.