Steez Magazine 2006 - 2015

The idea of Steez came to light in the summer of 2006, when Andrew Bablo pitched his senior design thesis at Montserrat College of Art. He knew he wanted to create a magazine focused on snowboarding and the surrounding culture. At first, it didn’t have a name, but one of his friends kept talking and using the word “Steez. During the first semester of Design Thesis, Andrew finally came up with the title “Steez Magazine”.

In the beginning, the very first issue was 24 pages printed on a black and white photocopier and featured an interview with future constituent Pete Prudhomme. Only a dozen or so copies were made, being known as the Mule Edition.  Throughout the two semesters of Design Thesis, five issues of Steez were created, all of which were printed on black and white photocopiers, with the exception of a few color printed covers. By the end of the second semester, there were 300 copies of each issue distributed locally in Beverly, MA.

Starting in late 2007, Joe LoVasco joined as the art director and would remain in this role for every issue. Volume 2, Issue 1 was the first professionally printed edition of Steez Magazine, with 5000 copied printed and distributed regionally. Within a year, more contributors and advertisers came on board and Volume 2, Issue 3 increased to 36 pages.  At that time, the Steez Apparel line was also launched. The following year brought Volume 3, Issue 1, which was the first edition of the magazine to exclusively focus on Skateboarding. Throughout Volume 3, more illustrators, contributors, and photographs came on board. Skiing was also briefly covered.

Photo: Katie Doner

Starting with Issue 3.4 in 2009, Steez Magazine became a full color publication, increasing to 48-page count. During Volume 4, the infamous “Mountains of Steez” event was launched at Granite Gorge. Larger advertisers came on board as the publications continued to grow, and although Steez was still a free publication, it grew to over 10,000 copies and was distributed nationwide. Steez Union, a loyalty based subscription-based service, was also underway at this time. Finishing out with Issue 4.4 in June 2010, Steez increased it’s page count to 64 full color pages.

The magazine was now covering events, interviews with athletes (both skate and snow) as well as beginning to offer art and music as part of its editorial. Starting with Issue 5.1, October 2010, Steez added a hard cover, which it would maintain for every issue moving forward. Shorty thereafter with issue 5.2, the magazine went to a perfect binding, which it would also maintain as well for every subsequent issue. During Volume 5, Steez would no longer continue its Skiing coverage.

Issue 20 was cause for celebration and featured a gatefold hardcover spot varnish and increased its page count to 80 pages. Following this with Issue 21, the cover of the magazine would featured an embossed version of the Steez logo, which would remain on every issue moving forward while the page count was increased to 88 pages. The photo section also began being printed on a heavier matte stock as Steez continued to push its quality level. The advertiser and distribution bases were rapidly growing with more than 20,000 copies being distributed per issue. Steez was sponsoring hundreds of events a year nationwide, while the apparel line was also growing and more trademark events were being added. Steez had a flagship apparel store in Lyndonville, VT during this time.

Starting with issue 24, Steez made a huge leap and became a 156 page quarterly publication. At this time, international distributor Ingram Periodicals picked up Steez and landed the publication into newsstands and Barnes & Noble stories across the United States. It also put Steez on the shelves of Chapters & Indigo throughout Canada. Steez was issued a barcode and carried a cover price of $5. It’s new tagline ‘Snow, Skate, Culture’ embodied the focus of the publication. Each issue would feature a mix of art, music, skateboarding, snowboarding and interesting aspects of the culture that came along with it.

Issue 30 was another cause for celebration, featuring a silver duotone image provided by Ian Ruhter of Silver and Light. The publication was hitting its stride with its cultural features. With more advertisers coming onboard, Steez was able to eliminate back cover ads altogether in order to push for a more artistic presentation for its following issues. Each issue thereafter featured more experimentation. Issue 31 featured a unique slide-out fully printed book jacket. Issue 32’s gatefold book jacket was completely removable and could be used as a poster of Cleon Peterson’s artwork.  Issue 33 featured two completely different pieces of cover artwork. Issue 34 featured 250 limited edition artist copies, with signed and numbered dust jackets. Edges were also printed in metallic gold and copies were given an official gold seal.

Issue 35 was released in the summer of 2015 and was the first issue to feature a guest editor, Trevor “KARMA” Gendron. Trevor was given the reigns to choose an interview, anyone he wanted, throughout the entire issue. The issue also featured Trevor’s design work for multiple record labels.  He also chose and created the Issue 35 cover artwork and limited edition packaging.

“The first time I brought up wrapping the limited editions in denim and putting some pins and patches with exclusive artwork on them, none of us envisioned what we actually had to do in the last couple months to make them happen. Each inch of denim was custom treated, hand cut, sewn and assembled. We even added a back pocket overflowing with extra exclusive goodies including a mix tape by DJ 7L (featuring music by or connected to the artists that appear in this issue), Dave Eggers mini art print, personal book plate and a custom beer coaster. We literally put a lot into each one of these 250 pieces so you have a lot to take out of them. Have fun!”

–Trevor “KARMA” Gendron

The limited edition packaging was a denim-wrapped sleeve signed and wrapped by KARMA. It also included a mini-booklet about Issue 35, an exclusive 35 patch, three exclusive pins, a real mixtape by DJ 7L, stickers, a leather drink coaster and a limited edition nip of Deep Betty vodka.  This issue was released with a large scale ‘Denim Party’ at Good Life Bar in downtown Boston, MA.  The event and the release were a huge success and received a great deal of media and publicity.

Following the release of Issue 35, many of the original members of Steez were ready to pursue new endeavors. A decision was made among the core team that it was best to go out on a high note, and the group decided that Issue 35 would be it’s last ever publication. A toast was made, and the group through an impromptu party in celebration that all that they had accomplished in the course of 9 years and 35 issues. It was a proud moment, and no one had expected to have had achieved so much.  The following statement was released:

Photo: Brooke Frederick

“We’d like to say thank you to everyone who supported Steez in print over the last 9 years! Moving forward we’re switching over to 100% digital and putting print on hold. A lot has changed over the course of 35 issues and many of us are onto other projects and ventures and this move will afford us the time needed for those. The Steez Magazine website will continue to thrive with the latest in influential culture and we’ll keep on hosting events and releasing new apparel on a more regular basis. Someday we will print again on our own terms as always. We can’t thank all the friends, sponsors, advertisers, and readers enough for all their support over the years. We ALWAYS printed exactly what we wanted and NEVER sold our content. We couldn’t have done that without all of you! Check out our new design house - Steez Design - to follow our latest creative projects as well. This is not something to be sorry about, this is a celebration! We accomplished far more than we ever set out to achieve and will continue to do so in the future. Hell, when we decided to put print on hold, we threw ourselves a party and drank all the booze in the office till it was gone... Congrats to everyone who helped us over the past 9 years. Here’s to the next 9!” 

Although the initial intent to transition their publishing to web, the Steez crew ultimately decided that print was king, and that if they were not going to publish in print then they would not publish the magazine at all. Steez was transitioned into a design house with a fresh take on client projects inspired by its past experience in the publishing world. Steez Design is alive and strong and its work has won numerous awards and featured in dozens of print, web and digital publications.

There are plenty more chapters to be written in the final Book of Steez.