Beehive Design Launches Novella Magazine

Photo by Jessie Lau

Beehive Design can add another line to its already-stacked resume with the publication of Toronto’s newest style and culture magazine, Novella.

A brainchild of the team at Beehive, the fledgling publication recently hosted a swanky launch party at 401 Richmond, a historic arts building where Beehive is also located. The premiere issue’s cover girl, Canadian model Stacey McKenzie, headlined the party and a fashion show highlighted some of the upscale designers featured in the magazine.

Terry Lau, founder and creative director of Beehive Design, started Novella as a print promotional project when boutique-owner friends on Queen Street expressed interest in doing a joint promo leaflet. “But then I thought, why limit it to stores?” he says. “We started to research who might be interested in jumping in.”

Once Beehive acquired a collection of interested businesses and distributors, the idea evolved into a quarterly tabloid-style magazine, which offers “curated paid advertising” and “artvertorials,” according to Lau. The first issue includes photo shoots highlighting Toronto designs and locations, as well as listings of restaurants, shops and products.

“We wanted to be something totally opposite [to the bigger Toronto publications],” Lau says. “Something alternative. We wanted to create something that is agile, and go from idea to product in an efficient and curated manner.”

Novella launch party photo by CeeHorse Studios

“Novella is a supportive system for local designers and retailers,” Lau continues. “They can have a hand in the creativity. The exciting part for us is that the people involved — whether retailer, venue, or restaurant — we can all collaborate and create the story.”

The team went with a tabloid size that folds down twice into a more manageable size for taking the magazine on the go. “I wanted a bigger canvas for us to showcase good photography,” Lau says. The size won’t change from issue to issue, but he hints that fonts and page design are open to new interpretations. The next issue of Novella drops in early December, and the magazine is available at selected distributors in Toronto.

“We like the fact that we’re not a publisher and not trying to get into publishing. We don’t have to go by a typical magazine formula. We just sort of craft our own path. It’s fun and has freedom. We can get it out to the people,” Lau says.

Novella launch party photo by CeeHorse Studios

Novella - Premiere Launch from Novella Magazine on Vimeo. Videographer/editor David Condotta

Novella- Premiere Launch Runway from Novella Magazine on Vimeo. Videographer/editor David Condotta