In Shades brings illustrated short stories to an online magazine format

In Shades magazine is a simple idea done satisfyingly well. Taking the time-tested pairing of short fiction and illustration into unfamiliar territory online, the magazine publishes a new short story weekly with accompanying original imagery. Eight weeks in, the homepage is now populated with a diverse style of artwork and narrative, each occupying a slice of the succinctly designed site.

The magazine was founded by husband and wife team Marina Esmeraldo and James Vincent, based between London and Barcelona. Marina is already an accomplished illustrator, with a body of work for clients including Nike, Lenny Letter, Perrier and Refinery29, and art directs the magazine, with James as editor. Marina’s illustrations and James’ writing can be spotted on a few of the early In Shades stories, amid other works by Pernan Goñi, uinverso, Marja de Sanctis and Elena Boils. The latest story, The Five Duels of Barbary Jones, written by David Sanger, is illustrated by Kyle Griggs. The duo are now accepting writing and illustration submissions for the magazine.

The site also feature side project Six Words, where micro stories of six words in length are depicted in various typographic styles — for example Tuesday Night Microwave Meal For One by Anna Vincent, illustrated by Teresa Marinho; and Deservedly Even Facebook Ignored Her Birthday by Elizabeth Harrison, illustrated by Yansy Soler.