story · 3 min
in may 2024 we wrote: "this summer paprika will release its first glossy magazine." we missed by two years. (2008)
the theme came in july 2024: rage. half the texts were already written. in april 2025 the editorial team came back to the issue and opened a donation drive for 120,000 ₽. by may every text was done, and we were looking for an art director. (2293, 2318, 3182, 3273)
layout took almost a year. we collected references, went through a pile of designers, called twice a week, and found the formula only when "we had almost no strength or faith left". by january 2026: 120+ pages, almost half a kilo, 2 colours, two years of work, 0 ₽ spent on salaries. (3607, 3630)
in february i wrote to readers for almost the first time in my own name: "if need be, i'll scrape kopecks from my unemployed pockets and print 10." the point was never the run. it was turning ideas into something you can hold, put on a shelf, or just show your mum. (3670)
the crowdfunding on planeta.ru ran from 9 february to 10 may 2026: 270,000 ₽ for 999 copies. it closed at 227,950 ₽ from 64 backers, 84%, and a sponsor helped close the gap. then legal issues held it back, and it goes to print in october 2026. (3680, 3792, 3965, 3998, 3999)
what's inside, 10 pieces: quiet (loud) riot · the ideological war of black metallers · anger, protest and paranoia in american music after 1991 · an interview with alexey aleev on hip-hop · what an emotional riot looks like · how to build a cbgb toilet at home · a frigate built of pain · the rage and emptiness of ryosuke kiyasu · fear and loathing in 20 square metres · the last noisy and threatening antics. (3931)
my role editor-in-chief and art director. i led the concept and the team, the layout process and the crowdfunding.
small things
- creative director rostislav: "honestly, i don't believe people read magazines. but we're counting on you." (3804)
- writer kirill salikov: his grandmother, who has no internet, can now read about norwegian black metallers (3729)
- its first material form was out of rage, a sound installation, months before the print (3683)
credits yana smolovskaya (curator, senior editor), rostislav karabut (creative director), maryana molchanova-velikaya (senior designer), grisha (layout), kirill salikov and ~12 more authors.
links planeta.ru · paprikamagazine.site · announcement