New year, new vibration

Phamous 69 is a new London-based online magazine from the fashion director of Sleaze magazine. Launched in October, it aims to be, "A modern take on the original Playboy". The content, erotic photoshoots for men and women, as well as music, travel, food and other lifestyle pieces, is good, but what really stands out is the design. Phamous 69 is the first online publication I have seen that really competes with the glossy print magazines (Vogue et al) in terms of look and feel. Design studio ten4 has done a fantastic job, with little features such as the ability to click and drag the photos to turn to the next page (just like in a 'real' magazine) being particularly impressive. Of course, the feasilibilty of this venture is closely tied to the increasing number of broadband consumers - twelve months ago it would have been an impossible sell. It will be fascinating to see whether advertisers, usually wary of online, give Phamous 69 the backing it needs to survive and thrive. Certainly it has the potential to serve a similar taste-benchmarking role for hipsters in the second half of this decade as The Face and i-D did in the first half of the 80s. www.phamous69.com