Kennedy Magazine: Finding A Home For America’s Favorite Family in Athens
Shrouded in a generation of mysterious misfortune yet simultaneous progressive patriotism, The Kennedies were stylish and generated a cult-following the White House had never seen before. Even today they remain, for many, a touchstone of the nuclear American family. So you might be wondering how Kennedy Magazine found its home in Athens, Greece of all places. Founded by photographer Christos Kontos after he lost his job to the city’s economic crash, Kennedy became a way, through print to share profiles on old favorites like artist Lawrence Weiner with new players like Tim Barber. Calling itself a journal seems like a proper fit, because there’s no holding back on quality. Kennedy uses thick, expensive paper, a wonderfully tactile cover that feels almost like a supple leather, and a front book design in the style of a old playbill. Filling the pages entirely with 1960s-style saturated film photos, the journal looks like one that might have been excavated from JFK’s very own bedside nook.
How do you define a journal vs. a magazine? Is it just a fancy word for the same thing?
Kennedy is called a journal for a reason. It started as a printed version of a blog I was running for some years called A Journal of Curiosities, which was a really personal space mostly crammed with things I liked. The magazine is a continuation of that in that sense. It’s a curated journal of things that me and the people I work with like. It’s a personal project and I tend to think that a lot of people are attracted to it for that reason. Also it’s missing a periodical feeling so the term journal applies more accurately.
What is a curiosity worth featuring in Kennedy?
Whatever is missing enough attention from the public eye. Whatever we unearth and feel that should be out there for people to get introduced to. Unsung heroes. Personal obsessions to be revisited.
Your cover forgoes image for text and almost looks like a playbill. What were were you trying to convey with this cover choice?
The cover of Kennedy is the result of an ongoing debate between me and the designer of the first issue of Kennedy, the late Angelo Pandelidis. Me and Angelo started Kennedy together around August 2012. Angelo’s idea was to use a cover with the content on the page like the early version of national geographic and I thought it was too adventurous but in the end i gave up to the idea after using a few drafts. Im thankful to Angleo for insisting at the time and convincing me to use his idea for the cover. Since then I think it has become a symbol of kennedy. We wanted to show people what we do, be honest. Having your content on the front cover is the most direct approach. Someone said it looks like a food menu. Haters will always find something to shout about.
Your magazine has a very nice feel to the cover. How did you think about physicality in the production of the magazine?
We wanted the magazine to feel more like a book. Like a printed journal that looks like something you wanna keep in on your bookshelves forever. Not a throwaway object. We used the best paper we could find to give it that feeling and we did not want to compromise quality over cost.