Hole & Corner magazine has built a loyal, global following, using some of the world’s finest photographers, writers and film-makers to celebrate stories of craft, beauty, passion and skill. We now seek investment to increase our frequency and circulation, maximize advertising revenues, extend on our international reach and expand our retail offering. This will enable us to build on our promising start to create a profitable cross media brand.
What is Hole & Corner?
Hole & Corner magazine commissions some of the finest photographers, writers and filmmakers to tell inspirational stories of craft, beauty, passion and skill. Over the last two years, it has built a loyal and passionate audience through our deceptively simple mantra – let’s celebrate the kind of lives we’d like to be leading.
A Hole & Corner story could be a dry stone waller in Yorkshire, a custom motorbike builder in Herefordshire or a rope weaver in New York. Amid the hustle and bustle of modern life, we’ve discovered there is a real thirst for these tales of dedication and beauty. We beleive they appeal across all ages, national boundaries and demographics. The only thing you need to enjoy Hole & Corner is a delight in the enchanting details of life.
Through hard graft and word of mouth alone, the magazine has built its readership in the UK, USA, Canada, Japan and Australia as well as countries throughout Europe.
We now seek the resources to take this amazing start and build it into an international, cross-media brand. For our inspiration we’re following the model laid down by titles such as Monocle and Vice. This means developing varied revenue streams from activities such as publishing, advertising, retail, commercial collaborations, events and retreats.
We know we’ve created something that people love. Now it’s time to let more people know about the world that awaits when they dive into Hole & Corner…
Hole & Corner Magazine is named after an old English phrase, defined as: ‘A secret place or a lifestyle away from public glare’. It resonated with us immediately and perfectly captured our intentions to dedicate ourselves to celebrating craftsmanship, passion, beauty and handmade skills.
It resonated with us immediately and perfectly captured our intentions to dedicate ourselves to celebrating craftsmanship, passion, beauty and handmade skills.
In the fast-paced, modern world, the real luxury is that of time and space: of substance over style. So we’ve used our experience of luxury publishing and applied it to a growing but under-supported area of the lifestyle market. Furthermore, we used the qualities of print publishing to devote time and space to reporting it with the same level of craftsmanship and skill as our subjects. Because, at Hole & Corner, we believe in the finer details of life.
The magazine was launched in May 2013 and we have published four issues to date. It has been a great success, building a loyal following and garnering critical acclaim, with respected and influential industry experts singlingout Hole & Corner as a key protagonist in the recent independent publishing revival. These figures include Ian Birch, head of development at Hearst Magazines. Tyler Brûlé, founder of Wallpaper, Monocle and Wink Creative, Jeremy Leslie, founder of magculture.com, Lisa Markwell, editor of the Independent on Sunday and Patrick Burgoyne, editor of Creative Review.
But Hole & Corner has the potential to be far more than simply a magazine; we now plan to turn it into a lifestyle brand for the post-digital era. This is why we seek investment partners to drive the business forward. We are opening a funding round to raise £200,000 for 16.6% of the company.
‘There’s something very beautiful about the lifestyle it evokes; it’s done with great care and love… it’s a very interesting, timely magazine’ Patrick Burgoyne, editor, Creative Review
‘A really handsome magazine… the people behind Hole & Corner are really interested in finding unique content. I think it’s wonderful’ Ian Birch, editorial director, Hearst UK
‘A title that takes a look at the quieter side of contemporary and traditional artistry’ Tyler Brulé, editor-in-chief, Monocle[13]
‘A wonderfully reflective title… like a visual version of The New Yorker’ Lisa Markwell, editor, Independant on Sunday
‘A British magazine reflecting the growing interest in the handmade as traditional techniques are rediscovered and re-evaluated. Beautifully compiled… highly recommended’ Jeremy Leslie, founder, magculture.com.
Over the past few years, magazines which have flourished are those which cater to a well defined group of customers in a holistic way. The internet has made life difficult for mass market titles but has created opportunities for magazines that aggregate like-minded communities from all around the world. Vice started as a free punk magazine in Montreal – it had a distinctive voice that brokered no compromise. Now it is a worldwide cross-media phenomenon which has been rumoured to be valued at $2.5bn. Monocle is similarly uncompromising and is certainly not to everyone’s taste, but there are enough potential Monocle customers in every country to fuel a $115m operation.
At Hole & Corner we have identified just such a growing market – one that reflects a demand for authenticity, skill and substance as an antidote for fast-paced, throwaway consumer culture.
Hole & Corner resonates at a time when people are arguably re-evaluating what is most important in life and craving authenticity. It is beyond the vagaries of fashion and trends because it is rooted in craftsmanship, dedication and genuine substance. In our opinion no other title in our sector brings the level of editorial, photographic and filmmaking talent to the subject.
Furthermore, our connections through the luxury market provide the opportunity to editorially align like-minded brands across multiple platforms in order to reach and engage with new audiences.
As a working example, the internationally renowned brand Hermès – who we have collaborated with on a number of editorial projects – refuse to describe themselves as a ‘luxury brand’, preferring instead to stress the craftsmanship of their work.
We believe the artisanal, handmade lifestyle is crossing into the global mainstream – from our supermarkets to the manufacturing industry, we see savvy consumers demanding a level of responsibility and sustainability that the commercial world simply can’t ignore. Based on our appraisal of the market the sector we reflect and report on is expanding and we’re ideally positioned to capitalise on this development.
This reflects what we are seeing on a global scale: both the British Council and the Craft Council have noted that in the Far East and China in particular, the emphasis is now on investing in brands who are rooted in traditional craft and skills.
All of which makes now the perfect time for Hole & Corner to expand its horizons. We know we’re doing it right, we know we have a successful, influential and respected title already, and we are ideally placed to take it to the next level.
Sam Walton, Founder and Creative Director
Sam has worked as an art director and designer with the majority of the UK’s most respected publishing houses, and titles such as Vogue, Frank and World of Interiors. More recently Sam spent six years at the creative helm of Spring Creative (formerly Six) developing brand campaigns for global names such as Bally, Harvey Nichols, COS, Nicole Farhi,Vertu, Barbour and William & Son. Sam is the creative director of Luxury for the Telegraph Media Group.
Mark Hooper, Editor
Mark Hooper is an editor and journalist and a regular contributor to The Guardian, Wired and Wallpaper*. He has previously been Editor-in-Chief of Virgin Media customer communications at Redwood, Deputy Editor of i-D magazine, Associate Editor of Esquire and Arena magazines and Editor of Channel 4’s music website. He is a contributing editor toManzine and has also written for The Observer, The Independent, The Face, 032c and Fantastic Man, as well as a copywriter for BBH. Mark lives in Kent and is the author of the blogs The Lister and The Great British Tree Biography.
Nick Watts, Managing Director
Nick Watts is an award winning Producer, Director, and Executive Producer responsible for a variety of well-regarded specialist factual output over the past 2 decades. This included Spitfire Ace, a project that generated huge audiences and some of the most positive feedback Channel 4 had ever seen as well as The Human Footprint, a feature documentary that’s fusion of art and science moved the Daily Telegraph to say “it is good to be reminded how enchanting a medium television can be at its very best”. Nick has developed and produced projects for major broadcaster in the UK and around the world. For the past 3 years he was also Managing Director of Western Front Films who’s credits includedMeet the Izzards, a BBC1 series with Eddie Izzard.