Gay lifestyle magazine Refresh has undergone a redesign a year after its launch, writes Ruth Addicott.
The move coincides with a revamp of the website and plans to launch an Australian edition in February.
The monthly, which sees itself as Attitude’s “older brother”, has introduced a news section and a feature called “fresh voice”, in which a reporter is sent to cities across the UK to gather vox pops on issues facing gay men.
There are also plans to publish special issues on gay business and sport next year as well as a focus on the US.
Editor-in-chief David Tickner said: “We are going for even more of a grown-up look. What has meant a lot to me since we launched is that more people have become aware of Refresh.”
Tickner said another priority was to increase the pagination.
“We have got no shortage of content,” he added.
Over the past 12 months, the magazine has tackled issues such as homosexuality in the army, homophobia, Section 28 of the Local Government Act and racism as well as the more lighthearted regular “stuff” section devoted to kitsch reader favourites such as Red Diva Barbie and My Little Pony.
Tickner said Refresh had appointed a global licensing company to explore opportunities abroad and it had already received interest from publishers in South Africa, the US, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Thailand.
Refresh is published by contract publisher CBC Media.
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