„The East deserves the hype” – something we like to say frequently, and we are always happy to see our statement proven right by new projects of the region, one better than the other. We are even happier when we see that others think so too and decide to promote local values from a personal motive. This is exactly what Rebeka Győrfi did when she created Natúr magazine, presenting the wine and gastronomy values of our region through the communities standing behind them. Unique, natural and honest – just like a natural wine.
Rebeka Győrfi has been engaged in the wine business for long years now, and in the past 4-5 years, she dedicated her attention to natural wines expressly. Attending the wine-related events of the world, she observed that the rich wine and gastronomy culture of Central and Eastern Europe was not as well represented at these events as it deserved to be. This is how the idea of spreading the word about the local values of our region and a slice of its diverse gastronomy culture in the form of a printed magazine was conceived.
“For me, wine is art, it is always somebody’s self-expression. When you understand this a little better, you’ll also understand the rationale behind natural wines. This was one of my core messages with the magazine” – Rebeka says, and flipping through the magazine, we instantly understand what she’s talking about. We can actually sense that the mood of the magazine, from its content to its visual world, was inspired by the honest, natural character of natural wines. Scents, textures, sounds and flavors: the publication offers an example for all things that could make us nostalgic, and that could take us on an imaginary trip to a wine estate, the authentic cultural venues of the capital or grandma’s porch. The texts introduce wineries and restaurants through the stories of the people standing behind them, putting all their hearts and souls into the work. In the first edition focusing on Hungary, we can read about Bencze Estate, Szóló winery, Pajta bistro, Portobello Coffee & Wine and the former Alma Nomad Bakery. The interviews and personal pieces are complemented by mood photos, a spritzer guide, a recipe for the famous Hungarian pogácsa, and even some music recommendations.
“The pieces are all very personal. You should imagine it as if many small projects were condensed into a magazine, thus I considered it important to make sure that the look of the given page is always determined by the personality and mood of the given piece of writing.” – Rebeka explains. The visual identity of the magazine was created by graphic designer Marcell Kazsik, inspired by Rebeka’s ideas.
Natural wine culture goes against everything. In the majority of the cases, winemakers themselves design and create the graphics, therefore many wine labels are expressive, astounding and a bit naive, they don’t even try to conform to some industrial standard – only to their own philosophy and ideology. Both the content and the way the brand is designed, packaged and sold are very honest. In the magazine we try to capture the essence of this mentality, therefore I also tried to break away from layout standards – Marci says.
It is exactly this eclectic character resulting from being “not planned” that gives a truly authentic feel to the magazine, and of course, the retro direction, which also served as a sort of point of origin. The graphical appearance of the magazine was inspired by the menu of fish shops at Lake Balaton written with chalk, the renaissance of polaroids and vinyls as well as the notes of the visuality of late socialist everyday life just as much as by natural wines. We live in 2020, but many times we long back to the time before the digital boom: the nostalgia of the eighties, our yearning for an analog life is gaining a more and more powerful representation in pop culture today, the same way as endeavors opposing industrial production and fast service. Natúr magazine enhances this tendency both in terms of content and form: the texts are only available in an offline, printed format, on high quality paper.
As the originator of the magazine, Rebeka is responsible for many tasks from writing copy to distributing the magazine, but several creators contributed to the visual materials: the illustrations and photos displayed in the publication were made by Hanna Békefi, Ádám Csordás, Marcell Kazsik, Gábor Nagy, Tiphaine de Rougé and Lia Rozgonyi. You can find copies of the magazine available for buying or reading in situ at ISBN book+gallery, Mono Art & Design, Marlou wine bar, Portobello, Konyha or Dorado in Hungary, and at more and more places abroad, too: a few copies are available in the bookstores and restaurants of Barcelona, and the Central Eastern European feeling will soon arrive to California, Denmark and Mexico, too. Stay tuned, the next stop after Hungary might be the Czech Republic…
Editor, publisher: Rebeka Győrfi
Layout and graphic design: Marcell Kazsik
Illustrations: Tiphaine de Rougé, Lia Rozgonyi, Hanna Békefi
Photos: Ádám Csordás, Gábor Nagy
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