With online magazines becoming increasingly popular as paper magazines become a thing of the past, Sub-scribe is staking its claim in the world of online media.
Sub-scribe is a student-run online magazine created by CU students and faculty members. Largely supported by the Student Academic Services Center, the editors of Sub-scribe are currently working on their third issue, which is slated for release at the end of April.
The magazine comes out every semester. There have been two issues so far, each with a different theme. Fall’s theme was “Crossing Borders.” Sub-scribe editors sort through submissions of all kinds to choose the content for each issue.
Amaury Lopez, an art history and Italian major, submitted two photos for the fall issue. One of his pieces, entitled “Left Hand,” shows an out-of-focus photo of writing done with Lopez’s left hand.
“I crossed my own self by disciplining my body to learn to maneuver on different sides,” Lopez said. “So my body became a border.”
The magazine’s themes are very loose, welcoming any sort of interpretation of the topic. Spring’s theme will be, “Home.”
The content of the magazine is diverse. There are six sections: politics, poetry, scholarship, visual art, fiction and audio.
“It’s a project meant for everybody, really,” said editor James Silva, a senior political science major. “We’re trying to be more inclusive in regard to student-run newspapers or magazines. What we’re worried about is that other options on campus tend to be more exclusionary and more cliquey – Sub-scribe is an outlet for people.”
Diyn Logan, a Sub-scribe editor and senior ethnic studies and history major, said Sub-scribe is challenging the status quo.
“The whole magazine is subversive,” Logan said.
Sub-scribe is constantly taking submissions. In the last issue, it got an entry from an artist in Hungary.
“I don’t even know how she found out about us,” Logan said.
Online media has a lot of flexibility that printed media doesn’t. Online media can include everything a printed text has and more, Logan said.
“Sub-scribe uses sound, flash components, animated imagery and video, which is something printed mediums can’t,” Logan said. “You can do everything – I haven’t thought of anything you can’t do”
Since the magazine is student-run and organized, the editors are finding it a learning process. Each issue has gotten progressively better and incorporates new functions on the Web site.
“It’s kind of a lot of work, more work than many of us were expecting,” Logan said. “Since we’re all students, we’ve all made pretty significant sacrifices.”
The staff of Sub-scribe plans on incorporating new features into the spring issue. Silva is looking forward to branching off into more video-based work and is hoping to attract ATLAS students who have made original films and videos.
“We’re trying to do more of an interactive piece,” Silva said. “It’s no longer 2-D; there’s more substance to it.”
As one of the first online magazines of its kind to be created by CU students, Sub-scribe is growing every day.
“Everyone knows about Illiterate (magazine) on campus,” Logan said. “They have a year head start – I’d like to see us where they’re at by this same time next year.”
Check out both issues of Sub-scribe at Sub-scribe’s Web site.
Contact Campus Press staff writer Jenny Bergen at jennifer.bergen@thecampuspress.com.
