The name of Rachel Kichler’s online magazine, Glasses Glasses, came to her when she and a friend were “broke and needed money for new glasses.” Now four months old, the site features short stories, films, essays and handmade goods for an audience of 20-somethings.
Kichler (RTVF, WCAS ’07) said she and a friend had initially been working on a documentary, and were looking to create a site for their production company. After buying a year’s worth of online space and thinking more about it, Kichler realized that Glasses Glasses could be extended to more than just the production company.
The online magazine has a monthly overarching theme that Kichler chooses; writers submit their work based loosely on the prompt. This month’s theme is “Bells and Whistles,” and includes works ranging from an essay titled “Backhanded Compliments” to a video named “Cactus Bumper.” “It’s always ‘blank and blank,’ so that’s the format, and I have a list too, so it’s sort of on a whim,” Kichler said.
Another interesting feature of the site is the layout. Large images specific to the issue’s theme serve as the background for each issue’s main page, and text is shown in multiple columns that readers can scroll through so the text reads more like a newspaper or magazine.
“I wanted it to appear more like a print magazine,” Kichler said of the Web site’s “horizontal orientation.” “When you advance to the next little grouping of columns, it’s like turning a page. So I wanted it to have more of a print feel to it but sort of an online interpretation of that.”
Of course, it wasn’t easy getting content published when the site first started. “I was sort of pleading [with friends] to submit things to me,” Kichler said. “Now it’s gotten to a point where I’m receiving things from people I don’t even know, so that’s exciting.”
Currently, Kichler is working to launch a daily blog for Glasses Glasses. “That’ll be a little more fun and light-hearted and less of a literary type magazine,” Kichler said. The daily column will feature interviews and music reviews, among other things, she said.
In the future, though, Kichler still wants Glasses Glasses to fulfill its original purpose. “Ultimately I do want Glasses Glasses to turn more into a production company with original content.”