How Penguin + Fantastic Man Created a Stylish New Literary Magazine

There’s no shortage of new print magazines being launched these days, a fact we’re only too glad is true. And when there’s a new title being pioneered by venerable publishing house Penguin and style bible Fantastic Man, you know it’s worth the trip to your local newsstand.

As Jop van Bennekom, one of the original creators of Fantastic Man, explains, The Happy Reader was launched at the end of 2014 after an informal conversation over dinner. Upon discovering a lack of magazines dedicated to the act of reading, he says the idea was to “reanimate classic literature,” turning it into something that would be contemporary, compelling, and, of course, beautiful to hold in your hands. “Penguin knows how to put a book out on the market that engages an audience through design,” van Bennekom says.

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