Paper work: Penguin and Fantastic Man launch new literary print magazine

In a bold declaration that print media is not dead, The Happy Reader is a new print publication that celebrates the art of long-form journalism, with a literary focus. 

The magazine is split into two halves. The first section will feature an interview with a high-profile figure about their love of books, and the second will examine a Penguin classic novel through different cultural filters such as film, fashion, history and art. In the first issue, author Naomi Alderman talks to actor Dan Stevens, and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, first published in 1859, is the subject of analysis in the latter section of the magazine. 

The magazine pays homage to the offline and slow experience of reading long-form articles and ‘explores the myriad advantages of the printed word and image: beautiful typography, high dwell time, the matte charm of ink on paper’. The strong emphasis on design has clearly been informed by the signature aesthetic of Fantastic Man magazine. 

For more discussion on the future of print media, watch LS:N Global insight editor Peter Firth talk to Rob Alderson, editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That, on the lasting power of print.