Karen

a magazine made out of the ordinary

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This award winning magazine is a collection of incidences in which people that come into contact with it’s editor, Karen, take centre stage. Karen is in pursuit of the mundane, the stuff of everyday life.
In a world awash with celebrity and fashion and must-have, Karen magazine is a little collection of quirky, sometimes hilarious observations and quotes from ‘ordinary’ folk.
The strong design features conversation and photography. The design is refreshingly deliberately straight forward and sympathetic to the representation of it’s content.
A unique magazine/artists book with a content that does not date throughout the year. 


An utterly original publication. A cult bestseller. 

A simple idea, executed brilliantly.
EMAP Publishing Award Winner Best Lifestyle Fanzine 2005

 Cover Price: £6.50
Frequency: Annual
Issues Per Year: 1
www.karenmagazine.com
Barcode: 9771369222013
ISSN: ????-????
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The article below appeared in The Media Section of the Guardian Monday March 13, 2006.

It was written by Rahul Verma
 

A life that's just plain ordinary

Given the magazine-buying public's seemingly insatiable appetite for celebrity tittle-tattle, launching a publication devoted to the humdrum lives of unknowns would seem risky at best.

But the first issue of Karen - named after founder Karen Lubbock - won Emap's Publishing Award for Best Lifestyle Fanzine of 2005, with judges declaring it "an utterly original publication".

The magazine shuns celebrity and sensational real-life stories, favouring everyday people and the mundane details of their lives. Each copy of issue one was signed by Lubbock. The edition featured Ben, a West Country farmer, explaining how he roasted road-kill peacock for dinner, a recipe for Neil's favourite tea - two pints of Worthy's, followed by jacket potato with diced onion and melted cheese, cheese-and-onion quiche with beetroot, diced carrot, lettuce and cucumber - all sprinkled with grated cheese and smothered in salad cream - and Jackie's weather diary.

"Karen is a reflection of the rise of celebrity magazines," explains Lubbock. "I am interested in how magazines focus on celebrity culture and how we're regaled with the minutiae of their lives. But I'm really interested in the minutiae of non-celebrity lives and elevating it to that kind of celebrity status through the magazine - however mundane, ordinary and boring it might be."

Karen is observational, quirky and gentle, consisting of conversations that Lubbock has had with friends, acquaintances and strangers. Photographs are affectionate, and its layout is bold and clear. It also has a unique relationship with its contributors. "I value the people in the magazine and make sure they're agreeable to appearing in the magazine, and they check the copy," explains Lubbock, who produces the magazine from her base in Rodbourne Bottom, Wiltshire. "I don't want to abuse the trust I have with the contributors. Without people contributing, I would have no magazine."

Lubbock self-distributed the first issue of Karen, which has now sold out, and issue two is available in specialist bookshops, such as Borders, thanks to a distribution deal with Central Books. However, the increased print run means Lubbock has not been able to sign each copy, though if you buy a copy through her website (www.karenmagazine.com), you will find a free gift on page 3: a hand-picked, pressed leaf.
Rahul Verma