Airbnb launch a new print magazine with an emphasis on creating communities

It’s been five months since Airbnb unveiled its shiny new brand identity and Belo logomark; five months since the internet went berserk with genitalia-inspired interpretations of DesignStudio’s stylised letter A. Needless to say in those five months the furore surrounding the brand has died down somewhat and the longevity of their new aesthetic has become clearer. Despite the initial fuss it looks like they’re still going strong.

This week they made a new announcement, launching a print publication that serves to unite their network of hosts and reinforce their ideals of community and story sharing. Pineapple will be a quarterly journal focussing on three international cities – London, San Francisco and Seoul in the inaugural issue – bringing together a network of seasoned Airbnb-ers to contribute written and visual commissions for all forthcoming issues. There’s neighbourhood stories, micro-community studies and features ranging from food and culture to art and style. So far so good.

Design-wise there’s some nice details too, with some beautiful visual commissioning by the likes of Nathaniel Russell, Kate Peters and Lucas Foglia. They’ve also been careful not to over-brand the mag with Airbnb visuals, so even newsstand and bookshop buyers won’t be put off when encountering it for the first time. Sure, you can’t turn the magazine’s masthead into anything saucy, but it’ll still be exciting to see how Pineapple develops over the coming months.