Magazines march to different beat

Publisher focuses on what sets Ray Gun, Bikini apart from the rest

By Ana Tintocalis, On-Line Forty-Niner

Monday, November 2, 1998

Speaking to an audience largely made up of graphic design majors, Ray Gun Media Publisher Marvin Scott Jarrett discussed how his popular underground magazines - Ray Gun and Bikini - were created, what sets them apart from other publications, and what type of direction his magazines will take with the dawning of a new era.

The conference titled "On the Edge of the Millennium," was held Thursday afternoon at Cal State Long Beach's East Library Faculty and Staff Center.

The conference featured an eight-member panel from Ray Gun Media - one of the nation's most avant-garde magazine publishing firms.

"I don't think the outside-in when creating a magazine," Jarrett said. "I think from the inside-out, and that's the way we publish. I know that's a lot different than most corporate publishers."

Ray Gun Media's success is a rags-to-riches tale that began in 1992.

Financially strapped and with only a vision of a provocative music magazine for men, Jarrett turned his one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles into a production room where the first prototype of Ray Gun was assembled.

"I remember waiting for the initial subscription checks to come in the mail so I could buy groceries," Jarrett said.

Little did he know that in six more years, Ray Gun would not only be read by thousands across the world, but also would lead to the creation of another men's magazine called Bikini, both of which have helped set the standard for innovative styles in photography and graphic design.

Having only a two-man staff when Ray Gun Media was first established, the company now has a team of young faces that is redefining photography and graphics, as well as creating trends thorough provocative attitudes and personalities.

"We take chances on really creative photographers who sometimes are winging it," said Ray Gun Photo and Fashion Editor Robyn Forest. "They're trying out something new, and are trying things that have never been done in photography before and that's very exciting. I think that's what starts the trends."

Some unique styles of photography seen in Ray Gun Media's magazines are vibrant pictures of blurry images, and photos that are cut extremely small to emphasize one aspect of a model's body.

"I think that sometimes photographic mistakes are the most beautiful photographs," Forest said. "I think a lot of times photographers have to un-learn a lot what they've learned in order to be really intuitive enough to take a portrait and get something that's really beautiful."

Ray Gun and Bikini's unique qualities - which are largely influenced by European and Japanese magazines - will appeal to future generations, Jarrett said.

"Basically we've been successful at a lot of what the future represents," he said. "We've taken a microcosm and have been able to package and distribute it, and it's grown to have a more collective appeal."

"Our mission statement has always been to be creatively expressive," Forest said. "We give people a chance to do something to make an impact. We then package it in a magazine and put it out there."

The conference was part of the Odyssey Project's Festival of the Five Senses, which celebrates the sense of perception.