First, let me apologize for the distinct lack of posting in the past week. I’ve been working on a number of Design Crack related items including podcasts, design projects, how-to design guides, and on and on. But most of this stuff won’t see the light of day for a number of weeks, so I thought I would give a taste of one of my first design guides I’m calling the “Design Crack Guide to Cool Magazines“. I’ve been talking about products so much, but I wanted to let people in on where I get my inspiration for the site and for my day job. I think I get almost all these publications I listed monthly with a couple of exceptions. Let me point out a couple of magazines that are tops on my list that aren’t the usual suspects: First, there is Bidoun. Bidoun is an art and culture magazine focusing on the the Middle East. It’s my only true outlet to Islamic culture. I’m always excited by the warm, clear, and direct perspectives in this magazine’s articles towards sex, politics, art, film, and food of a culture that I’ve subconsciously feared. Another fine publication is Icon Magazine. Icon is a British publication that is just catching on in the U.S.. Their work is hard hitting, tough, witty, and critical. They are also one of the more important publications when looking towards the future of product design and architecture because I think they always stay slightly ahead of the curve.

Some publications that are missing from the list that I would love to know about but don’t are Asian, South American, and African magazines that may be English language. IdN and Hinge are both Asian based magazine, and still they have a pretty international flare to them. If anyone can please guide me towards magazines they love that might have an African or South American lean to them then please let me know in the comments because I would appreciate this information so much.