#kreativmuenchen crowdfunding is the crowdfunding platform of the City of Munich's Cultural and Creative Industries Competence Team and supports creative crowdfunding projects from Munich and the metropolitan region. Such as "quite something," a print magazine without editorial staff. We wanted to find out how it works and what exactly is behind it from the three founders themselves.
With quite something, you want to launch an editorial-free print magazine. Who exactly is behind the project, and how did you come up with the idea?
We are Laura Ofenreiter (26), Ruby Weidemann (24), and Miriam Zenger (32). We met while studying communication design. We fell madly in love with typography, corporate design, and editorial design. We got along great from the start and were on the same wavelength, even design-wise.
While I was still studying, I came up with the idea of creating a magazine that is not written by authors, but by people who write about their own experiences, and the dream of realizing this project one day has not disappeared to this day.
While all three of us had a good start to our careers, worked for renowned clients, won awards, and paid for it with the occasional overtime and the occasional gray hair, we simply lacked a project close to our hearts that we could stand behind 100 percent—the concept, design, and content. We wanted to create something that touches people and connects them.
About a year ago, the moment finally arrived: The daydreaming gave way to the urge to act! We sat down together and fully conceptualized the idea, and voilà: the newbie among magazines that rewards your attention with mental caresses.
Giving “normal” people a lovingly designed platform
Hasn't something like this existed for a long time?
Nope.
Before starting a project like this, you naturally do extensive research, and as three absolute print lovers, we also read quite a few magazines in our free time. We haven't found a comparable magazine that combines the elements that are so important to us at quite something: giving "ordinary" people a lovingly designed platform to write about their own experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Giving them a reason to engage more deeply with a person and not just scroll through the newsfeed – with a sustainably produced magazine instead of a smartphone in hand.
quite something is not a design magazine – but it looks like one, it is not topic-specific but mood-specific.
The content comes from the community — does the funding also?
Currently your Crowdfunding campaign on Startnext — why did you decide to get the crowd on board?
We absolutely didn't want to relinquish control of the concept, implementation, and responsibility, so investors were out of the question. The magazine's content comes from the community, so it was a natural idea to finance it with a community. We like the idea of give and take in crowdfunding. The backers do exactly that: support our project—as it is—because they think it's good.
What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Definitely the self-promotion! With every story we received, our motivation grew, but so did the pressure to actually publish the magazine. We really enjoy all the work behind the scenes, but being in front of the camera isn't really our thing. So the crowdfunding video became a huge challenge. Miriam still gets palpitations when she thinks about the shoot.
After the video was finished, things didn't necessarily get any easier for us. The concept and design are extremely personal, because we were involved in every detail ourselves. Then came the point where we simply had to trust that we had done a good job and go public with this work. We now have to trust that our enthusiasm will contagiously spread to others.
Your crowdfunding campaign runs until mid-November – will it continue after that, regardless of the outcome of the campaign, and if so, how?
In keeping with the magazine's spirit, we're also trying to be thoroughly optimistic. We've put so much time and love into the project and want to see it through to the end of the crowdfunding phase. We believe in our authors' stories and are determined to find a way to publish them. But right now, we're not dwelling on "what ifs."
If you would like to learn more about quite something and possibly support the project: Here you can find the crowdfunding campaign on Startnext.
