Acid magazine describes itself as “a surf-inspired publication for the beauty of ideas and images,” a write-off which would have many readers assuming that there are only so many photographs of gnarly dudes on surfboards that you could see before you got bored and pushed it to one side. They’d be wrong, though.
Instead this sub-A4 magazine provides a much-needed insight into the diversity of surf culture, which is about a lot more than the just beaded necklaces and sandy golden locks that are often attributed to the surfer stereotypes. Ranging from stories about the aficionados who surf Stavanger on the coast of Norway, where the water is rarely warmer than 2 degrees and crossing the beach means dragging your board across snow, to experimental surfboard design that uses embroidered jute fiber or toast in place of the usual materials, all interspersed with stunning images taken in places from the Arctic Circle to Indonesia and then back again. Not quite as narrow a spectrum as you’d think, then.
Also, it’s neon orange-pink, and pulled neatly together with strong design elements that recur throughout the publication, making it as aesthetically pleasing as it is editorially so. Jolly good work.