Anorak is an illustrated kids magazine found by Kathy Olmedillas in 2006. She visited the studio for a talk to us.
She told us that she started Anorak in 2006 when she had got children for herself she found that finding an appropriate gender neutral magazine was practically impossible. The market was flooded by a strictly pink and blue divide of zines with a sense of easily throw-away-ability to them (and nasty plastic toys). She saw a gap in the market for something fun and imaginative that could appeal to children in general (and parents who were sick of the cheesy magazines out there).
She pitched to various publishers and received a resounding no from all of them, all quoting that a gender neutral magazine simply wouldn't sell in this day and age. Kathy then decided to fund the first issue herself and found that parents were buying it and enjoying it.
She mentioned that when she was younger she enjoyed buying annuals and that there was no boy or girl specific zines back then really, she wanted Anorak to be focus on reading but discovering other things also.
She often commissions different illustrators for every issue to do cover art and a feature, she decided that for each issue she wanted it to be a theme so often she will send the theme to the illustrator and let them create something themselves around that theme.
I found her talk interesting, I like publishing but I am not particularly interested in childrens books but I liked learning about how she went about fixing a problem she saw in the children's market.
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