About the Issue

Magazine B, founded in Seoul, South Korea, in 2011 by Suyong Joh, is a documentary magazine featuring well-balanced brands that are selected based on four criteria: philosophy, price, aesthetic, and practicality. In an era when most magazines push breaking news and hot trends, B offers something fresh: a regularly published series in book form that examines brands as subjects with unique narratives and structures. Running ad-free from issue 1 to 100, the magazine has been praised for upholding the pursuit of objectivity and maintaining its independent perspective. Seen in the global creative scene as a brand guide and valuable collectible, B is expanding its experiential touchpoints with podcasts, video content, and physical stores, gearing up for its next chapter as a media brand that presents a full spectrum of brand content.

7 Key Takeaways from Issue no.100

• The 100th subject is not another “brand”, but B itself
After documenting 99 brands, Magazine B turns its lens inward for the first time in its 100th issue. This issue begins by retracing the journey behind the question, “What makes a good brand?”—and how that exploration ultimately shaped B into a brand of its own.

• An issue that asks “how” and “why,” rather than just “what”
Rather than listing outcomes, this issue foregrounds more fundamental questions: ways of observing, methods of editing, and the reasons for continuing to publish. Here, the very process of making a magazine becomes the content itself. The texture and rhythm of the field—captured through photography and documentation—along with the editorial framework that shapes them into narrative, are revealed in detail.

• Publisher Suyong Joh’s perspective on “living” a brand
This issue presents the idea that a brand is not defined by logos or marketing terms, but is instead a language of life shaped through people’s choices and the passage of time. Through an interview with the publisher, we explore the foundational perspective from which B approaches and interprets brands.

• Rediscovering the cover as a language of editing
The cover is not simply a summary of an issue, but the first device that draws readers into its world. What is revealed and what is left unsaid, which fragment is chosen and how it is presented—this section follows the process through which B constructs its own face.

• Expanding the frame to foreground the people and ecosystem behind the magazine
Through the MAG Manifesto—a set of principles shared by independent magazines across both print and digital—B situates itself within a broader context. By directly engaging with nine independent publications, including Apartamento, Brutus, Broadsheet, Style Not Com, A24 Books, and L’Étiquette Magazine, this issue explores what standards guide their work and why they have remained committed to their approach. Together, they demonstrate how a consistent perspective and responsible documentation continue to affirm the relevance of magazines today.

• Reunited with brands, including Freitag, the subject of the very first issue
This issue reconnects with the founders and management of Freitag, the recycled bag brand featured in B’s inaugural issue, tracing the trajectory through which the brand has built its balance over time. It also revisits twelve individuals previously featured across 99 issues—those who have worked with brands such as Aēsop, WeWork, MR PORTER, and Arc’teryx—to understand the criteria behind the choices they made at key turning points in their careers. Following these decisions offers a lens into how individual careers and the futures of brands evolve in tandem.