As the Collector’s Edition crowdfunding campaign nears its final week, editor and founder Jo Tinsley, art director Tina Hobson and deputy editor Abi Whyte share their memories of how the journal began, what Ernest means to them and why they feel it should continue to exist in the world. Photos and interview by Jim Marsden.
Editor and founder Jo Tinsley, art director Tina Hobson and deputy editor Abi Whyte, at Distil Co-working, Bristol. Photo: Jim Marsden.
Tell me about the first issue of Ernest you produced.
JT: The three of us were working together on an independent magazine called Pretty Nostalgic, which was a joy to work on in so many ways. We would often talk about this other magazine we would love to launch together one day, but rather than let that get in the way of our work we would save the idea to a shared (secret) Pinterest board with a view to coming back to it one day. One year on, after our work on that magazine came to an end, we got together around a table with some big sheets of paper and started sketching out what we wanted to explore and who for – and slowly Ernest began to appear. Ernie has always been a character to us, who we have come to know better over time.
AW: I fondly remember those days in your living room, Jo, thinking about who Ernest is – their likes, passions and insatiable curiosity for the world around them. That got us thinking about the Ernest voice; how we wanted it to be authoritative and enlightening, yet warm and engaging and playful, where appropriate. To help us hone this voice, we didn’t just want to work with writers; we wanted to find people with a passion or an expertise from all walks of life. Right from the start, we’ve been lucky to work with contributors with fascinating stories to tell, and who all seem to ‘get’ what Ernest is. For me, it’s the ‘contributors’ page at the end of the journal that captures Ernest perfectly – the way each edition is brought to you by a talented collection of writers, photographers, illustrators, beachcombers, taxidermists, mountaineers, anarchist chefs, egg painters... it’s often a very eclectic mix!
TH: I remember it feeling really organic. Jo sowed the initial seed of the idea in our heads long before we thought seriously about producing the journal, and we just found we were seeing ‘Ernest’ everywhere. The idea began to grow on its own. That day we sat down at Jo’s to articulate who ‘Ernest’ was, it felt like we were describing someone we already knew. Once we had that in sharp focus, we had something we could hold all our ideas up to, and the direction felt really clear. So in a way, it felt like we were realising a pre-existing Ernest, more than creating a new concept.
Thinking back to that first meeting, do you think the journal has changed much since those early days?
TH: We’ve certainly refined the journal over the years, but I don’t think we’ve changed the essence of Ernest. I think both the content and the look have become more confident, now that we really know who we are. We’ve cleared away the clutter, and allowed it to mature. But the bones are the same, we’ve just made Ernest… more Ernest.
JT: It’s quietly evolved over the years, but like Tina says, the core of Ernest remains consistent and I think our readers appreciate that. With each issue, we’ve stripped things back a little more – boiling things down, refining our design and creating a looser structure to allow space for longer reads. Initially, I feel like we tried to be too many things for too many people, but as time went by and we got to know our community better, we felt more confident to find our niche. The world of independent publishing changed a lot over those first few years and we soon found ourselves nestling between other new ‘slow travel’ titles. And while it’s wonderful to be part of such a thriving subculture, we needed to define what makes Ernest distinctive.
What was the design process for Ernest? What did the mood board in your mind look like?
TH: Ooh, there were so many things! Firstly, we wanted it to feel really ‘objecty’. It needed to be tactile, weighty, substantial, durable. We wanted readers to feel they could sling it in a satchel and take it on their travels. That determined the format – small but chunky, with a heavy paper stock and a matte laminate cover. No pristine, uncoated, white covers for us! We wanted to evoke a Shackleton-like spirit, so our type choices reflected that era and that British heritage, while our triangular masthead was a nod to nautical flags. When it came to artwork, we wanted illustrations that felt useful, with a sense of ‘Victorian accuracy’. We began working with Aidan Meighan, whose style fits Ernest perfectly, and he has been part of the team ever since, with artwork in every edition. We found photographers who intuitively felt like a good fit – those with an eye for curious details and an authentic, rather than ‘insta-epic’, approach to capturing a landscape.
How did you all meet?
JT: We met at Immediate Media, a publishing company in Bristol, in around 2008. I was the Outdoors Editor on BBC Countryfile Magazine, which was a wonderful role writing and commissioning walking, cycling and day trip guides. Abi joined the Countryfile team shortly afterwards, and we’ve been working together in some way or other ever since. Tina, I accosted in the office lift. She had recently moved to Bristol and was freelancing on BBC Wildlife Magazine. I'd heard she had published an independent magazine called Lost in London. Indie publishing was in its infancy back in those days, so I was really eager to meet someone who had done it, launched their own magazine.
TH: Jo and Abi were on the same editorial team, but I wasn’t, so I got to know that we were interested in the same things through chats with mutual friends. There was quite a long period of cautious smiles and nods in the lift before we properly met and became friends and colleagues!
AW: Jo and I instantly clicked as colleagues and friends when we first worked together on Countryfile. I was struck by Jo’s creative mind and infectious enthusiasm, and so I jumped at the chance when she invited me to join her on Pretty Nostalgic, then later on Ernest. That’s when I met Tina and it was thrilling to work with such an intuitive designer who seemed to effortlessly bring Jo’s vision to life. We all seemed to gel really well.
Editor and founder, Jo Tinsley.
Art director, Tina Hobson.
Deputy editor, Abi Whyte.
Which magazines did you look up to as inspiration when starting Ernest?
JT: I was a huge fan of UPPERCASE (founded 2009) – a beautifully designed Canadian journal for craftspeople and designers, created by Janine Vangool, who’s an inspiring editor and one-woman-team. Ads-free with high production values and thoughtful, spacious design: it was such a breath of fresh air from mainstream publishing. Smith Journal – an Australian quarterly, launched in 2011 – was also such a joy. Minimally designed and filled with niche, esoteric and unexpected articles, it’s a magazine I come back to time and again. It sadly folded in 2019, apparently falling victim to that most common publishing business model, where advertising underpins print costs.
Tell me how it felt when you saw Ernest on the shop shelf for the first time?
AW: It was a surreal and very proud moment. I remember, with its size and the popping colour of the red tent against the bleak Icelandic landscape, it looked very distinct from the other titles – I just felt compelled to pick it up. It still gives me a thrill today to unexpectedly see it on display in a shop I’m browsing around.
What is the best thing a reader of Ernest could say about it?
TH: It fills me with joy to realise Ernest means to our readers what it means to me. One piece of feedback in our survey echoed my own feelings, that reading Ernest is like meeting a fascinating person in a country pub, who regales you with tales and histories which leave you feeling passionately interested in things you’d never even considered previously.
JT: I think it’s when people ‘get’ Ernest, that’s what means the most to me. We invited readers to respond to a survey recently and almost 500 people took the time to tell us what they thought of the journal. Hearing people say that it allows them time to pause and take time for themselves; or how it’s the only magazine that they read cover to cover; or how it has reawakened an interest or passion within them – this all matters enormously to me. Making something that I feel proud of and that’s valued and resonates with people has always been my main motivation. Receiving thoughtful messages from readers or seeing someone share their collection of journals on their shelves, that’s what makes me want to continue publishing Ernest.
What does your ideal Ernest article look, sound or feel like?
TH: I feel so lucky that so much of my job is reading and considering these stories. For much of my time, I’m pre-occupied with ‘getting things done’; giving myself space to dive into an Ernest feature nourishes my busy mind. Also, one of the wonderful things about working in our small team is that we don’t have to go through the many rounds of approvals that a larger magazine team necessitates. It means ideas, written and visual, aren’t eroded by myriad opinions before ink touches paper. Nothing is done by committee; so the writers, artists and photographers we work with have more autonomy and authorship than usual, and I think you can feel that undiluted creativity in the journal.
JT: Carol Devine’s ‘Mapping Antarctic Women’ feature in issue seven encapsulates an ideal Ernest story for me. In a bid to celebrate the roles that women have played in shaping our knowledge of the Antarctic, Carol has been re-mapping the Antarctic, shining a light on female place names and honouring their seldom told stories. It’s articles like this – which give an insight into history, geography or cartography, but which also invite us to enquire into an aspect of our modern world, reflect on our relationship with landscape and feel a responsibility to protect it – that feel important to me. Aidan Meighan created original artwork for the feature, which we have released as a limited edition poster as part of our crowdfunding campaign.
How are all three of you similar?
AW: We all seem to intuitively ‘get’ what makes an Ernest feature an Ernest feature, which is a very particular thing as we still sometimes find it challenging to explain down exactly what that is, but somehow we just know. I think all three of us have a love for the natural world, which is such a core part of what Ernest is about. Also, most importantly, we’re a working team that really cares about each other. We’re all working mums with young families, juggling freelance work and busy lives, so we understand the importance of supporting and checking in with each other, allowing each other time to step back and take a breather if we need to.
TH: That’s so true. It’s really refreshing that we’re so open and supportive of each other. I think we can empathise with each other when we need to slow down for a time, or recharge with some fresh air and a cold dip.
How are all three of you different?
AW: Jo and Tina seem to be very green fingered, whereas plants come to me to die.
Where did you see Ernest fitting in the magazine world when you started? Is it still in the same place or different now?
JT: We originally pictured Ernest as a men’s journal, an antidote to what was currently being offered within the men’s magazine market, with titles mainly pre-occupied with health, status or hobbies. We wanted to create a space for people to indulge their curiosity and delight in esoteric topics, while making room for how we feel about landscape and the world we live in. Ernest has evolved over the years, and we don’t aim it at any particular gender or demographic anymore; our community connects over shared values, interests and aesthetics.
TH: I think the real change we were tapping into back then was what was happening to our relationships with magazines, and with print more generally. My first job was in news journalism. It was all about ‘right now, right now’ – and it was a world desperately struggling to keep up with the internet. It just couldn’t match it for speed, and people were saying ‘print is dead’ and so on… and we knew it wasn’t true! We knew holding freshly inked paper has a magic that a screen can’t match. So we deliberately left all that rush and urge for ‘timeliness’ behind us. That’s why issue one feels as relevant today as it did back then.
What did the indie magazine world look like when you started? And now?
JT: Gosh, it’s so different. When I would go to an indie bookshop back in 2010, there would only be a handful of titles. But the subculture has flourished since then, and some wonderful independent magazine stores have opened too. It’s such a joy to think that there’s enough interest to sustain whole stores filled with niche publishing.
TH: Yes, the scene is so much bigger now! And that can only be a good thing, as many big newsstand magazines have sadly folded in that time. Older publishing models, propped up by advertising, are really suffering as things move online, but conversely, readers are happier to pay more for a niche publication that really resonates with them. The tricky part is keeping going long-term. There’s no getting away from the fact that commissioning great work, for great work’s sake, and then printing it on quality paper stock and posting it to readers around the world is an expensive game. We’re all small, creative teams trying to find ways to make the numbers add up while retaining our authenticity, and sadly many indie titles find the challenge unsustainable in the long-term.
Given an enormous sack of money, what would you do to Ernest?
JT: What a thought! I think the first thing I would do is revel in having the time to just be an editor. Often, all the other elements of running an independent business end up dominating, whether that’s selling advertising space, marketing or bookkeeping. There’s nothing I would like more than the opportunity to immerse myself completely in the editorial side of Ernest. I would allow myself time to read, meet new writers and get to know our readers better. I feel like I could add so much more depth and value, given the chance. On a practical level, if I didn’t have to worry about money, we would love to publish more frequently – quarterly would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?
What drives you to keep making Ernest?
TH: I have a deep love for Ernest and the more we get to know our community, the more I realise other people have too. Ernest has no agenda other than to be a bloody good magazine, and I think that’s exactly what it is. It sounds so simple, but in this noisy life, it’s a rare and precious thing. I also have other work. Lovely book and magazine projects come along, occupy my mind for a while and then are sent on their way into the world. But Ernest is different. It is the beating heart of my work, sometimes quietly ticking along in the background, sometimes it’s all-consuming. I hope readers can feel it too – that between issues, Ernest is very much alive. Those new stories are finding form as a disparate band of passionate folk – experts and amateurs, scientists and artists, whittle their words and pictures in readiness for the next edition.
JT: Ernest means the world to me. Recently, I'm having to sit with the idea of closing the journal because of the constant financial pressure, and it's making me reflect on how much it matters to me and how much my work is wrapped up in my sense of what makes me 'me'. Ernest has allowed me to travel to incredible places, make lifelong friends from all corners of the world and work with a team of women I care dearly for. And all of this has allowed me to overlook the fact that, up until late 2019, it has never really paid its way.
Obviously, how I feel about Ernest, and how much love there is for the journal within our community, isn't enough on its own to continue publishing. It needs to be a viable business with a funding model that works – something we almost achieved in the run up to 2020 – but it's certainly fuelling my faith in Ernest as we head into the final week of our crowdfunding campaign. As I write this we are 50% of the way there. I want Ernest to continue to exist in the world and I just hope this campaign reaches enough people who feel the same.
