Magazine pages filled with pastel colors, large photos, unique fonts and colorful shapes emulate the inner child theme of Grace Livecchi ’21’s original magazine, Really Magazine. Livecchi released the first issue of Really Mag on Jan. 1 of this year after working on the issue for about two months.

 “I started playing with the idea of creating a magazine in early October,” Livecchi said. “I wanted to sit on the concept for about a month before I committed myself to something so massive, but as my ideas began to develop, I honestly became obsessed with turning my vision into a reality.” 

While contemplating the idea of making her own magazine, Livecchi worked on the one at her college; however, it wasn’t fulfilling her eagerness to produce something more. 

“At the time, I was writing and styling for a fashion and lifestyle magazine at my school, but it was low commitment and nearly impossible to acquire an active role as an underclassman,” Livecchi said. “I started Really because I had a burning desire to create something at a larger scale than what I was doing. And for it to be more meaningful.”

Livecchi chose the theme of inner child because it is a concept that she has found intriguing and she believes that various aspects of childhood, such as listening to your creative intuition and not taking yourself so seriously, are important to integrate into adulthood. 

“It’s easy to let risk of embarrassment or defeat inhibit you from doing what you truly want to do,” Livecchi said. “By tuning into your inner child, you prevent yourself from becoming a victim of comparison.”

With such a unique theme, Livecchi ran into trouble figuring out how to market her magazine; however, through various approaches, she was able to tackle this issue. 

“Because I was so focused on fulfilling my desire to create in the beginning stages, I wasn’t giving enough attention to branding and thinking about my target audience,” Livecchi said. “I overcame this, in part, by studying other small mags, but by also realizing that I was particularly interested in our constantly evolving culture in the arts. I am incredibly fascinated by subtle cultural shifts that may even go by unnoticed.”

Soon after the release of Really Mag’s first issue, Livecchi had already seen a lot of success, with various people wanting to join the team. 

“Most of the writers are people I know from the school magazine I used to be a part of, a couple are friends of friends who heard about the mag from word of mouth,” Livecchi said. “But after the release of the first issue, I’ve gotten some emails from people I’ve never met who are looking to join our team, which definitely feels surreal.”

Going forward, Livecchi hopes to keep Really Mag on a steady content schedule, including magazine issues and blog posts.  

“My most immediate goal is to get our blog running so that we are putting out consistent content in-between issues,” Livecchi said. “As far as long term goals, I’d like to put out a collection of some sorts, but I need to focus on growing the magazine before that can happen.”