A buzzing crowd, a stack of magazines and the smell of roasting coffee on a Tuesday night – this could only be the launch of Intern magazine, a new bi-annual Manchester-born publication that sheds light on the creative work of interns, paid and unpaid, across the world.
If the name rings a bell, you may be remembering the hugely successful Kickstarter campaign that made the rounds several months ago, a step that funded the first issue, and drew attention to Alec Dudson’s unique idea to include contributions from fashionable and talented interns in a brand new project. The magazine could not launch at a better time – interns are more present in the media than ever, with even Vogue scrapping their coveted internship programme recently. Intern offers its own contribution to a debate that is growing more popular by the day, that of whether unpaid internships offer a new wealth of valuable experience, or whether they can be exploitative, rather than informative.
The event was held in a quirky corner of Manchester’s Northern Quarter, at Northern Tea Power, a coffee shop that offers a welcoming and alternative vibe along with the best iced latte I’ve ever tasted. It was the perfect venue for the launch, and the impressive art and photography of the magazine was displayed proudly around the shop. Design studio ‘She Was Only’ is behind the striking look of the magazine, which displays some truly impressive art throughout. One memorable image (containing far too much bad language to quote here) caused a buzz of laughter to hit the assembled crowd, as well as a larger reproduction of the stunning cover image by photographer Paul Phung. The event appeared to be a huge success, and after an hour there was a copy of Intern in everyone’s hands, with everyone having something to say about it! ‘We weren’t sure how it would go down in Manchester’, Josh Woodall, a friend of Editor-in-chief Alec Dudson said, ‘but it’s going great!’ Others at the event commented on the laid-back atmosphere, and student Sophie Johns was intrigued by her copy of the magazine, commenting, ‘it’s really great, definitely something I’ll be buying in the future! The photography is really fantastic’.
This won’t be the last we hear of Intern magazine – already it has been featured on Mashable and The Daily Beast, and in The Independent, and has the internet buzzing. At the moment, it can be purchased from the online shop, but soon enough I’m sure we will be seeing it on shelves, if the popularity of the first issue is any indication! From an idea hatched by Dudson during one of his own internships to a stack of glossy magazines selling fast, this project is gaining popularity by the minute, and I’m sure we will all be eagerly anticipating issue two.
Alex is an English student at MMU. She is passionate about good coffee, boring films and ridiculously long books. She would like her writing to be seen and hopefully one day published. You can read her blog at http://aalexjayne.blogspot.co.uk/.
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