Kinfolk magazine does branding. And they do it very well.

Here they merge filmic storytelling with a mythical narrative, telling the story of their reader’s lifestyle. How they come to the table of Kinfolk, and all that this relationship coveys. It’s an artistic stretch, implying that every reader canoes up to their friends’ charming candlelit dinner on the riverfront. We can all dream, can’t we? The point, as is stated below, is that their approach to branding here has to do with knowing who they are as a magazine. Who comes to the table is anyone’s guess. But it’ll probably be someone cool and smart.

A few notes from gymclassmagazine’s fantastic mag blog:

Magazines are brands. And like all brands, they signify to others who we are and to what we aspire. A rolled magazine under our arm is a sign, just as much as the trainers on our feet or the shirt on our back.

Kinfolk’s identity got us thinking about semiotics (university flash back!). It got us thinking about how some magazines have a strong sense of what they’re about and who they’re for (such as Kinfolk)… while others seem to struggle.

So the big question at Gym Class Magazine HQ this morning is: What do magazines with a confused identity say about the people who read them?

-Ben