About Grafikmagazin

Grafikmagazin

The Grafikmagazin is a German trade magazine for graphic and communication design, published bimonthly from Munich by the Phoenix Verlag für Grafikdesign. Founded in December 2020 by the former editorial and design team of novum, the legendary design magazine that ceased publication after nearly a century, it consciously continues the tradition of an independent specialist journal for the design industry. The first issue appeared on February 25, 2021, financed in part through a crowdfunding campaign, with an initial print run of 4,000 copies. Distributed worldwide in German, the magazine addresses graphic designers and creatives with in-depth coverage of typography, corporate design, illustration, editorial design, logos, production, and publishing, with a distinctive emphasis on print, paper, and haptics as well as sustainability in design. Its editorial offices are located in the Ruffinihaus Creative Hub in central Munich, and the title is led by editor-in-chief Christine Moosmann.

Overview

The Grafikmagazin appears six times a year as a German-language print magazine with an e-paper edition, distributed worldwide. The single-issue price was set at 19.80 euros at launch, with annual subscriptions at 105 euros for print plus e-paper and 75 euros for the e-paper alone, including reduced student rates. The print run was reported at 6,000 copies in the first quarter of 2021 and 4,000 copies later that year, figures that reflect the economics of an independent specialist title built on subscriptions and newsstand sales rather than mass circulation.

The target audience is graphic designers, communication designers, illustrators, and creatives in agencies, studios, and corporate design departments, along with design students and educators. The editorial program offers professionally relevant information across the discipline: typography, corporate design, illustration, editorial design, logos, production, and publishing form the standing thematic pillars. Print, paper, and haptics receive special attention, a deliberate focus for a magazine that practices what it preaches about the value of the printed object, and sustainability in design is treated as a cross-cutting concern. The magazine's ISSNs are 2703-1071 for print and 2703-108X for the online edition.

History

The Grafikmagazin was founded in December 2020 by the former graphic and editorial team of the magazine novum, after novum had been discontinued as an independent publication. Novum, originally launched in 1924 under the name Gebrauchsgraphik, had been for generations of graphic designers worldwide the central publication that accompanied them throughout their professional lives; its post-1924 issues are archived in the Neue Sammlung of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and remain publicly accessible. The founders of the Grafikmagazin set out to continue this tradition of an independent trade journal for the design industry under a new name and a new publishing house.

The start-up capital came from a crowdfunding campaign, a financing route that matched the project's independent ethos and mobilized the design community itself as backers. The first issue appeared on February 25, 2021, with a print run of 4,000 copies. The publisher, Phoenix Verlag für Grafikdesign UG, was established for the purpose, with Christian Meier as managing director. The editorial team took rooms in the Ruffinihaus Creative Hub at Sendlinger Straße 1 in Munich, placing the magazine in the middle of the city's creative quarter. Since then the title has appeared on its bimonthly rhythm, building a subscriber base among designers who had lost their trade journal with the end of novum and among a new generation discovering the format.

Coverage and Content

The content pillars of the Grafikmagazin map the working world of the communication designer. Typography coverage ranges from type design and font releases to the practical use of type in corporate and editorial contexts. Corporate-design features present identity projects and branding systems with the process documentation that designers value: strategy, concept development, implementation, and guidelines. Illustration is treated as a core discipline rather than decoration, with portfolios and interviews presenting established and emerging illustrators.

Editorial design and publishing coverage addresses the making of magazines, books, and digital publications, while logo features dissect wordmarks and symbols. Production and publishing topics cover printing techniques, paper, finishing, and the economics of producing printed matter. Across all sections, the magazine practices a distinctive material awareness: paper choices, printing processes, and haptic qualities are discussed as design decisions, and the magazine's own production serves as a demonstration object. Sustainability in design, from material selection to the carbon footprint of print, runs as a thread through the program. The tone is collegial and expert, written by designers for designers, with visual documentation carrying equal weight to text.

Organization and Ownership

The Grafikmagazin is published by the Phoenix Verlag für Grafikdesign UG (haftungsbeschränkt), based at Sendlinger Straße 1, c/o Ruffinihaus Creative Hub, 80331 Munich. The managing director is Christian Meier. The editor-in-chief is Christine Moosmann, who also handles advertising contacts, and the editorial team includes Sonja Pham in the editorial office and Tobias Holzmann as art director. The founding team drew on the former novum staff, giving the young title unusual editorial continuity with the tradition it claims.

As an independent publisher without a corporate group behind it, the Phoenix Verlag depends on subscriptions, single-copy sales, and advertising from the design industry's suppliers: paper manufacturers, printers, type foundries, software companies, and design schools. The crowdfunding origins of the title remain part of its identity, and the publisher cultivates a direct relationship with its readers through the magazine's shop, subscription offers, and social channels. Detailed current circulation figures beyond the launch-period media data are not publicly confirmed.

The Novum Legacy and the Design Press

The Grafikmagazin's founding story is inseparable from the history of novum, the magazine it succeeded. Novum began in 1924 as Gebrauchsgraphik, a monthly trade journal for graphic design, and over nearly a century became the German-speaking world's most respected design periodical, published in German and English as novum – World of Graphic Design. For generations of designers it was the publication that defined professional standards, presented established designers and young talent side by side, and documented the evolution of the discipline from letterpress to digital.

When novum ceased as an independent publication at the end of 2020, its editorial and design team chose not to disperse but to found a successor, carrying the ethos of an independent, designer-led trade journal into a new publishing house. The Grafikmagazin thus represents both continuity and a fresh start: continuity in its commitment to serious, visually ambitious design journalism, and a fresh start in its crowdfunded, independent structure. In a media landscape where design discourse increasingly happens on social platforms and in newsletters, the magazine asserts the continuing value of the curated, printed, collectible issue as the format in which design is best discussed.

Digital Presence

The magazine's website at grafikmagazin.de serves as the digital face of the brand, with the shop, subscription offers, media data, and selected content from the print issues. The e-paper edition extends each issue to digital readers, and the online ISSN 2703-108X marks the title's digital presence in the bibliographic record. On social media, the magazine shares issue previews, design features, and behind-the-scenes material from the editorial office, reaching the design community where it discusses its work daily.

The publisher uses its social channels to support advertisers' presence during booking periods, integrating print and digital promotion. Newsletters announce new issues and subscription offers. For a magazine whose subject is visual communication, the digital channels function as a portfolio and a community space, while the print issue remains the core product: a bimonthly object of record for the German-speaking design world, printed, bound, and kept on studio shelves.