Mag Watch: Dumbo Feather

There's a peculiar scent coming from the corner of my desk. And every couple of minutes I become acutely aware of it and begin eyeballing it, as if my steely gaze could to stop it omitting that smell.

But no, it's not a bad smell per se. Just an addictive one. Close peers and family can tell you about my ridiculous penchant for sniffing everything I read. There's something about the smell of good paper stock that gets me going. CD booklets and freshly printed magazines of all sorts are my favourites. However, I do draw the line at newspapers. You can't be as subtle when sniffing broadsheets.

At said corner of my desk is my newly acquired copy of Dumbo Feather magazine in all it's 100% recycled papier goodness.

NAME: Dumbo Feather
STRAP: "Pass it on"
GENRE: Art, Literature
CYCLE: Quarterly
MADE IN: New South Wales, Australia.
PROS: Ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
CONS: Not intended for casual perusals or those seeking fleeting distractions.
BLOG: Dumbo feather, pass it on.

The clever part about Dumbo Feather is that it's a hybrid mag-book ('mook', if you will). The magic of this cross-breeding means they have essentially cancelled out most of the unpleasant characteristics of book and magazine publishing.

Like books, the interviews in Df are timeless, and the well-invested binding and thick quality paper mean these stories can be passed on and on. But unlike books, an issue of Df doesn't take a year to write and another to publish. Apart from the steady quarterly cycle, Dumbo Feather also works well with other definitive features of magazines - such as the room for generous photography and illustration. But unlike a typical magazine, the content isn't lost competing with pages of ads. In Issue 21, I counted two: back cover and inside back.

The focus remains squarely on the five different individuals they profile each issue - everyday folk sharing their story, passion and creation. But here's the thing, you really absolutely have to be in the mood to read it. It's not really intended for casual perusing while you're waiting for a call to drop in at a call center. I imagine myself taking a copy on board my next flight, I mean, anything has got to be better than Mills & Boon, right?