arl Marx had little time for artisans, dismissing them as “reactionaries” compared with the progressist workers, but he did nonetheless grant them one quality: they did not exploit the work of others but sold their own work.

This notion of independence and autonomy is at the heart of what we call craftsmanship. From this point of view, we are indeed artisans, because we are independent and sell only the product of our own labour.

Another possible definition is that the work of the artisan connects brain and hand, mind and matter. In this respect, too, we are every inch artisans. We don’t work with metal or wood or stone, but with our mind and our hand, with paper and ink, which are as worthy materials as any.

The artisan fashions objects that are intended to last and this is what we also set out to do. We direct all our efforts into making magazines which our readers will want to hold on to, keep for future reference, build a collection. In the same way that every hand-crafted object is unique, we constantly start afresh to make each of our publications one of a kind.

The artisan knows their work must serve a purpose. A chair, for example, has to be comfortable to sit in but pleasant to look at, too. This aesthetic aspect is an integral part of the artisan’s work. It expresses their skill and lends greater meaning to the object in question. For us, the layout of our magazines is the aesthetic expression of our ideas. By crafting pages that are visually engaging, content and meaning become easier to apprehend.

The artisan uses their hands to create, which means imagining and making tools. Writing began with a fragment of flint, then lines engraved in bone, followed by styluses, ink and parchment, by Gutenberg’s printing press, the typewriter and the computer. Like every artisan, we make use of increasingly sophisticated tools. But these tools would amount to little without the hand that forms the letters or strikes the keyboard while following a train of thought.

Artisans we are and artisans we will remain.