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The Media Blog: Blanck Magazine lives

We love Franka Asindi. We think she is an unequivocal genius. And no, this isn’t just because of her stint as Editorial Director at our sister company, (even though we’d say the work she did more than serves to underscore this fact.)

Take, for example, Complete Fashion which should only be spoken of in the terms “During Franka Asindi” and “After Franka Asindi”. (Whatever was going on there before she joined the publication was irrelevant enough to go unacknowledged.)

The difference was, and remains staggering. Complete Fashion went from being an unknown entity, to a Lagos pop culture force, delivering cover after iconic cover. And then everything went downhill after she left. It became such a disaster that our friends had to take a closer look to figure out what exactly was wrong.

Then came Blanck, an (initially) online only magazine, which, ironic name aside, managed to put her earlier work to shame. It arrived with something of a splash, with its debut feature covered by It Girl Eku Edewor.

Delivery was steady but solid, most especially a January 15 quadruple smash, with covers featuring Tiwa Savage, Toolz, Zainab Balogun and Banky W. And of course, who can forget this eyebrow-raising issue with Chris and Damilola Attoh.

If nothing else, we saw constant reminders of Franka Asindi’s talent (and grit, and everything else it takes to deliver work that is consistently solid.)

Today there’s a new cover, featuring none other than Yvonne Nelson. And honestly? We’re impressed just by the fact that it exists. We will tell you for free, publishing a magazine in Nigeria is back breaking work. It’s an industry that is notoriously difficult to make any real sense of. The fact that Franka Asindi has kept this up for two years is impressive.

It’s even more noteworthy when you consider the fact that she doesn’t even live in Nigeria and is marketing a $23.40 print magazine to an audience that would largely prefer to look at photoshoots online and call it a day. Of course, there’s a larger case to be made for the digital version, but even its cost of $5.60 is something many people might balk at, “in this economy.” It’s a curious choice, and one we consider especially brave.

And the magazine is alive. And we are happy for this.

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