Christmas...gift idea!

4C Magazine


Well, occasionally, you get stumped.

The clock is ticking away in the countdown to Christmas, but a gift idea for a special friend or business associate, has eluded you.

Why not a magazine subscription with a little pizazz to it?

Although many of the major dailies are whining that circulation is down, a bevy of slick, glossy magazines worthy of anyone's coffee table, are taking off.

Any one of the following offerings are unique stocking stuffers.




Visionaire 52 was launched in 1991 and is considered the crème de la crème of the magazine set.

The periodical focuses on emerging and established artists, personalities, and designers worldwide, with a notable difference; each issue explores a different format and is published in a numbered limited edition of no more than 6,000 copies (three times a year).

The upcoming edition, with a monogrammed gold case, features a collaboration with Louis Vuitton and designer Marc Jacobs.

On this occasion, the subscribers will be treated to dazzling celebrity portraits of Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Stella McCartney, and Marc Jacobs himself. A hot item; in fact, Visionaire has become a bit of a collector's item over time. In the past, individual editions have sold for upwards of $5000 a piece to discerning collectors.

On the other hand, S Magazine is a worthwhile choice as well, in a lower price range.

The magazine was started up by a group of artists in 2004, who were discontent with the art world and its restrictions. To combat their malaise, the visionary group launched S to provide an outlet for creative types to act out in uninhibited fashion between its aesthetic pages. If anything, S celebrates diversity, decadence, and the human form with an artistic flare - and exalts each with a unique touch in the process.

For instance, every issue has an avant-garde seductive quality, with a differing theme. In the past, S has focused their keen eye on "Memories", "Diversity", and "Play". The bi-annual publication is in growing demand worldwide.

Veneer, the third offering, is often referred to as a sort-of brain simulation.


The leading-edge magazine offers a vehicle for masters of photography to explain "the depth of their fascination and wonder", according to one critic. The project is somewhat unique in that founder Flint Jamison is creating a collection of books featuring eighteen issues, all inclusive, and published over the next four and- a-half years - to be read collectively or individually.

Each issue relates to the next and produced in its own unique style.

The initial issue debuts with an edition of 300 (with 700 copies to be sold online thereafter, and in art galleries, bookstores, and libraries as copies last) and features George Kuchar's essay - "French Fried".

"The Singularity is always near" - by Wired founding Executive Editor/Cool Tools publisher Kevin Kelly - is also included in what amounts to be a much-anticipated edition.

Word is that the inaugural issue will be unveiled in Portland at a "happening" - gong-style - with a heavy emphasis on paintball.

4C is a "feast for the eyes" and is quite provocative at times.

Custom published by Emin Consulting, the slick mag blurs the lines between art, design, travel, fashion, and beauty. The Editors promise to parse colors each issue from distinct perspectives. The start-up issue, for example, probes vibrant lighting, color theory, Belgium's impact on archictecture and fashion, and casts an insightful eye on leading designer, Karim Rashid.

Each issue is intended to be a coffee-table or shelf piece and is printed in limited editions of 2000; each conceived by an iconic artist in a particular creative realm.

Yves Behar's first issue folds into an easel, is housed in platic case, and coated in one of a hundred colors to choose from. (photo above)

Fabulous, dahling!

Merry Christmas

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