Getting titillated by the tangible
The beauty of the physical in the digital world
In a world dominated by digital, there’s something really special about a well-crafted, tangible item.
Whether it’s a well-loved copy of your favourite book, a limited edition vinyl record or, in this instance, a freshly printed glossy magazine, there’s a special feeling you get when you can hold something that clearly took time, effort and passion to create.
This week, we welcomed Sophie Cross, co-founder and editor of Freelancer Magazine, to the podcast. Along with general chitchat about going freelance and how to market yourself as a freelancer, we also covered Sophie’s decision to launch a print magazine in 2021.
“Print is dead”
It’s no ‘hot take’ that digital media has overtaken the consumption of print in recent years. I’m not going to go into the stats of magazines shutting down or newspapers moving to digital-only, as that’s not what this piece is about.
Rather I want to focus on why I think print isn’t dead, and why it’s a small corner of the world of tangible objects that bring a very unique joy to so many people, including myself.
No bigger than six inches…
I’ve always been a bit of a collector of things. As a child, I spent my Sundays digging through the local car boot on the hunt for anything that tingled my magpie senses. From typewriters to an epic marble run, not to mention all the beanie babies… I threw every penny I owned at my collections. It got to the point where I was given a strict dimension restriction on all car boot purchases - nothing bigger than 6x6 inches was allowed to be purchased 😅
Until quite recently, I still owned 500+ DVDs and over a decade’s worth of Total Film magazines, including all the supplements and free gifts. So, yeah… I have always been quite the h̶o̶a̶r̶d̶e̶r̶ collector.
In adulthood, I am a lot better at only keeping things that truly ‘bring me joy’ favourites include the living room bookshelves and my stationery trolley.
So, what’s so special about these things? And things really is the only word I can use to summarise those special tangible items that you have in your home, as not everything is part of a collection or a particular limited edition. Sometimes it’s a paperback that’s falling apart out of love or that ballpoint pen that simply cannot be beaten.
And that’s what I think Freelancer Magazine will be for me and so many other freelancers who have watched Sophie and Angela transform something from an idea to something we can hold in our hands.
There’s nothing quite like flipping through a magazine and seeing photos of people you respect and adore. The first issue is packed full of familiar faces from Twitter and even our Discord server, I can’t think of a better way to commemorate this incredible community I’ve found myself a part of.
So, if you want to subscribe to Freelancer Magazine you can do so here, and you can scroll down to watch/listen to the episode of Conversations By The Sea where we chat with Sophie (also available on Spotify).
Tell me about your collections on Twitter @ContentByTheSea or reply to this email for a little chat.
📚 I finally got around to reading Shadow & Bone (#1 Grishaverse) by Leigh Bardurgo. Nothing groundbreaking here, just a good ol’ YA fantasy romp, but I am trying to read the whole series so I can watch the Netflix show!
🏊♀️ Other than my weird pool incident the other day, I’ve been loving swimming! I joined a gym with a pool last month and it’s taken me several weeks to take the plunge and I’m really glad I did.
📺 And on the subject of pool incidents, I just devoured the first season of Motherland on Netflix (I believe they just chucked the second one on there, too!). A hilarious sitcom about navigating parenthood.
That’s all from me this week,
See you next week!
Ellen
Enjoyed this? You might like these past issues:
5 May: Taking it all in
28 April: Be a better cheerleader
21 April: The power of procrastination
14 April: How to sell without feeling icky
7 April: Am I a bad feminist for wanting to lose weight?
31 March: The rescue dogs that rescued us
24 March: Feelings are meant to be felt
17 March: I sent a newsletter every week for a year
10 March: I’m triggered
3 March: Balancing creativity and getting paid
24 February: The day I lost a client
17 February: How to talk to someone who is struggling