Yasmin Ali

Erstwhile housed slightly east of town at The Modern Institute as a pop-up, the store became an instant success with orders continuing online while between residences. Having a store in the Merchant City is a good acid test for a shop - if it can survive just shy of the main shopping area, it must be on to a winner. There are also plenty of creative shops and start-ups in the Merchant City/Trongate area worth seeking out.

On the shelves...

GmbH stocks a range of titles - both glossies and zines- some familiar, others more niche. A personal favourite of mine introduced to me via GmbH is UAE-based contemporary design and lifestyle magazine BROWNBOOK. Subtitled 'An urban guide to the Middle East', with clean graphics and sharp commentary, it resembles in many ways, an Arab version of MONOCLE (also stocked here!).

I'm also a fan of film magazine Little White Lies (LWL); a recent addition to the stocklist. Self-published by London creative agency The Church of London, it's film journalism...but not as you know it. Sharp, insightful commentary is matched by creative graphics. Their screenprinted covers, also available as posters, are fast-becoming cult classics in themselves.

PIN-UP is another favourite of mine, billing itself as 'The magazine for architectural entertainment'. The bi-annual New York-based publication is nicely laid-out and and doesn't take itself too seriously. I've only ever seen it in American Apparel, of all places, so it's good to know there's another place that stocks this on its shelves.

Also stocked is grafik, the International magazine for graphic design. The long-running design title recently bounced back from its publishers' having gone bust in mid-2010, and is now back in print, independently produced and with a slick new i-Pad-ready website.

Read on for selected titles

// Interview with shops' founders to follow...

Selected Titles

8, 032c, 125 Magazine, 3x3, A Mag Curated By, A Prior, Acne Paper, Adbusters, Afterall, Aie Magazine, Alpinist, Anorak, Another, Another Man, Apartamento, Aperture, Architecture Review, Art Forum, Art Monthly, Art Newspaper, Bare Face, Baseline, Blag, Blend, Blueprint, Bon International, Boneshaker, Brownbook, Cabinet, Cent, Colors, Condiment, Crafts, Creative Review, Dansk, Daylight, Dazed & Confused, Dear Dave, Dodgem Logic, Dot Dot Dot, Draft, Dwell, Eat Me, Ecologist, Encens, Exit, Eye, F.R. David, Fallen, Fantastic Man, Fault, Fire & Knives, First Person, Flash Art, Foam, Frame, Frieze, Gentle Woman, Graphik, Graphotism, GUP, Happy Hypocrite, Hercules, Hero, Homesapiens, Hot Shoe International, Huck, I-D, I Like My Style, I Love You, Icon, Idn, Illustrated Ape, Intersection, Interview, Inventory, It's Nice That, Juxtapox, Karen, Killmanjaro, L'officiel Homme, Le Gun, Lemon, Line Magazine, Literary Review, Little Joe, Little White Lies, Lodown, Love, Man About Town, Manzine, MAP, Map Magazine, Mark, Meat Paper, Metal, Modern Painters, Monika, Mono, Monocle, Mousse Magazine, Neural, New Internationalist, Nobrow, Noi.se, No. Zine, Numero, Numero Homme, Nylon, O.K Periodical, Palais De Tokyo, Parkett, Pear, Pin Up, Plastique, Ponytail, Pop, Popshot, Portfolio, Privateer, Purple Fashion, Qompendium, Richardson, The Ride Journal, Rojo, Rouleur, S Magazine, Self Service, Slanted, Sleek, Sneeze, Spesial Nord, Sportswear International Euro, Sup, Super Super, Surface, Swallow, Tank, Ten Men, The Believer, The Drawbridge, The Last Magazine, The New Cinema, The Wire, Tokion, Turps Banana, Twin, V Magazine, V Man, Varon, Vna, Volt Magazine, Wad, Wallpaper, Wired, Wonderland, Wound, Zoo Magazine.

More titles available and on request.