STENCIL Creative sent its first wholly in-house magazine to print in July last year. If we’re being honest, it felt a daunting first step. But has since proven the first of many taken in the right direction. 

It’s a brilliant all-sports quarterly title. And it’s called Pitch – Stories of Modern Sport. 

Designed to look at home even when viewed in the most discerning of company, inside every issue you will find stories, long and short, covering the thick-end of 30 different sports. It’s a genuinely groundbreaking remit and, we thought then and now, a first in the world of magazines.

Numerous late nights, five issues, 636 pages, and 16-months later we’ve been nominated for two BSME Awards. It will all culminate in an event –known as the ‘Magazine Oscars’, hosted by the British Society of Magazine Editors at the Rosewood London on November 21. 

It’s recognition to be immensely proud of, and something our young team of creatives can share wherever their careers take them.

At STENCIL, editorially-led design is something everyone gets to work on, and loves to work on, in fact. From copywriting to layout to illustration to photography, the whole studio is involved. And it’s everything the business stands for. 

The magazine’s masthead – topped by the name of Editor-in-Chief, Andy Afford, and not just because it sits in alphabetical order – is something we’re particularly proud of. There is an ever-growing list of names. Comprising young and younger still. As well as our old-as-the-hills editor.  

In it, it brings together seasoned and fresh faced. Boys and girls. And every type of personality.

Given creative director Sam Bowles’ commitment and belief in the project, it’s an honour to share that he has been nominated in the category of Art Director of the Year in the Independent magazines sector. And with him overseeing the efforts of a talented young team of designers, it’ll be fascinating to see where this still nigh-on untapped potential can take STENCIL as a collective.