Our aims and ideas

Air Monkeys initially formed as a Volkswagen club in January 2011 but soon turned their attention to writing and self-publishing an online e-zine about the air-cooled Volkswagen scene. We aimed to create a different magazine from what was currently on the market with articles not only on cars and their owners but also on many of the fringe events and themes often associated with classic Volkswagens. These fringe topics include alternative fashion, extreme sports such as surfing and skating, music, festivals, camping and food.

With the market saturated in other forms of reading material for the classic car fan we needed to make our publication different. We firstly wished to make a magazine and secondly have fun doing it. Money was never a priority so we decided to release our magazine on a free to read basis and also included free adverts for VW related companies and events. This has proved very popular with smaller companies.
We run on a small but slowly expanding team of dedicated Volkswagen enthusiasts that have mixed backgrounds and bring different styles in to company. With people in the group with graphic design and fine art backgrounds the design of the magazine is one of our proudest selling points. Also we have a group of very good professional photographers who understand our mentality for free quality work and are happy to donate there time to us. Plus in the team we have people with mechanical and engineering backgrounds proving we ‘walk the walk’ as well as ‘talk the talk’.

Our target audience is the UK’s ever growing Volkswagen scene as well as incorporating Hot Rod, Skating, Rockabilly and Hipster scenes. Also with our ‘Earworm’ music reviews becoming one of our more popular features music fans can be a target for the future.

Future Aims


The magazine is getting more and more popular as each issue is launched but we do have aims for the future to gain more followers and readers. These are:

• Attract larger companies to advertise in the magazine. Some major companies in the VW scene have contributed so far but we shall target more.
• Social media is the easiest and most productive way to generate an audience for the magazine. We continue to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our publishing site Issuu to promote the magazine.
• The magazine is getting more popular in Australia and Europe and we wish to continue this growth with further social media and collaborating with local clubs and associations in those countries.
• We have spent the first 8 issues featuring Air Cooled VW’s so now we are going to branch out and widen our scope to include other rare and/or interesting classic cars from around the world.
• A sister publication may be released once a year in regards to the UK show scene but this is still early in the planning stages.

Target Audience

Our audiences are as varied as our magazine is so they are best catagorised as below:

• Young VW enthusiasts’ ages between 17-50 yrs.
• The Hipster Generation.
• Classic car fans that are wanting to learn more about the VW scene. (The VW scene is detached to the rest of the UK classic car scene).
• Skateboarders and Surfers.
• People who are interested in Americana, Hot Rods or American Culture including Rockabilly and American Fashion.
• Independent Fashion designers and people interested in independent fashion.
• Music fans
• Tattoo artists and fans

Over the next few years we aim to reach out and expand our readers to include the following groups by including related articles in the magazine and promoting on social media platforms:

• Vintage and retro bicycles- we already have contacts in this field.
• Vintage Photography- we already have contacts in this field.
• Independent film fans.

Budget and Time-scale

As we are a non-profit company we treat it as relaxed as possible. We aim to release the magazines on a quarterly basis but as the show scene in the UK and Europe isn’t the same every year so these dates change.
Also due to the team producing the magazine on a voluntary basis we decided to not add pressure of a release date. Once we have enough material for a magazine the issue is released.

We want to create a magazine that gives the impression of an organised blog style publication. One that shows the writers and designers are working together but also shows individuality. With different designers and photographers and our main feature writers all having very different styles this is achieved with ease.
We take our inspiration from many places but mostly other magazines. We have studied the layouts of The Ride, Little White Lies and Airmighty and feel that these are most like our design ethos.
Also a large swing towards the American skate scene is something that we all are fans of with brands such as Lng, Santa Cruz and Famous Stars and Straps all influencing our work.
We have worked closely recently with fashion lines such as Growl and Grandeur and Rothfink and aim to keep working with them and using this theme.
With this all in mind the main style that all of us are influenced by in the vintage and retro style that is fashionable at the moment in the mainstream market.

Air Monkeys aim to create a relaxed and stress free environment for budding designers, photographers and writers to showcase their skills.  With this in mind we are happy to take other ideas on board if they fit with the general principles of the magazine.

Things that we do not want in the magazine:

• Drug references- cigarettes and alcohol allowed.
• Violent references
• Pornographic images and references
• Sexist or/and racist views.

We hope to work with you soon.

Joe Eynon- Air Monkeys Magazine Editor
Sam Eynon- Air Monkeys Magazine Deputy Editor and Art Consultant
Edd Thorpe- Air Monkeys Magazine Feature Writer and Technical Focus Editor
Martin Cox- Air Monkeys Magazine Photographer
Richard Thorpe- Air Monkeys Magazine Feature Writer and Photographer
Nikola Woodhall- Air Monkeys Magazine Designer
Ed Kellas- Air Monkeys Magazine Feature Writer
Scott Mitchell- Air Monkeys Magazine Feature Writer and Photographer
Scott Savage- Air Monkeys Magazine Photographer
John Hilton- Air Monkeys Magazine Designer
Danny Bullock- Air Monkeys Magazine Photographer

We would love for everyone who wants to be involved to be a part of the magazine.
If you have any input or ideas that could change or improve the magazine then please let us know.