It’s that time again! A new issue of alternative wedding magazine, Rock n Roll Bride is hitting newsstands this week. And wow, it’s been growing fast — we love seeing our clients doing well and this has been on another level. The first print run of the inaugural issue we designed in September sold out online in just a few days. Within a few more, it was scarce on most newsstands.
Our prediction is that this issue will sell even faster based on the killer mix of content. Kat has really outdone herself this time with an epic mix of 11 real weddings, tons of advice and one of the coolest wedding fashion editorials we’ve ever seen.
We’ve pulled together a preview of some of the content but at 164 pages, these pages are just scratching the surface. Some of the standout features include an advice column around why having a blog-worthy wedding isn’t everything, a rain-drenched wedding that still turned out to be gorgeous (nothing could stop this couple!), etiquette on who (and who not to!) invite to your big day, an amazing enchanted forest-themed gay wedding complete with a past contestant from RuPaul’s Drag Race and fabulous advice for mothers of the bride (who aren’t always given the fairest treatment in the media.) Whew! That’s a lot….but we’ve left plenty of surprises, too!
Onto the design! After the launch of our first issue together, we sat down with Kat to review the magazine and make some tweaks. Most of the updates are really minor — tightening up type here and there, adding in more inspirational pages that aren’t pushing products or advertising (such a luxury with print!) and expanding the styled editorial features. Magazines are a constant work in progress and you’ll see even more tweaks rolling out with the January issue.
The most notable update we made with this issue are some adjustments to the branding. While we loved the sleek new look, there were some legibility issues so we found a solution to get “Rock n Roll” on top of “Bride” while making use of the negative space to the right for the tagline. The biggest shift of all has been dropping the word “Magazine” from the cover altogether. As we brainstormed, it became apparent that Rock n Roll Bride is now so much more now than just a blog or magazine. Over time, it’s slowly transformed into a lifestyle brand. Instead of dividing parts of the brand, we decided that it was time to bring it all together.
If you’d like to pick up a copy of Rock n Roll Bride Magazine, it will be available at grocery stores and newsstands across the UK including W.H. Smith’s and Sainsbury’s. If you’re in another part of the world, you can order here and have it shipped straight to your door. We can’t wait for you to see it in person and remember to hashtag your Instagram photos of the magazine with #rocknrollbridemagazine for a chance to be featured in the next issue.
And, if you run a cool independent business and want to get it in front of soon-to-be brides, Rock n Roll Bride would love to have you included in the mix! If you’re interested, email Kat at [email protected] and she’ll hook you up with a media kit.
Finally, I’d like to give a shout-out to our awesome designer here at Branch, Samantha for all her hard work and dedication to this project.
I hope you love the new issue! —Shauna
