Magazine Grands Prix winners announced: The Kit Compact named magazine of the year

The Kit Compact was named magazine of the year in the Magazine Grands Prix, presented Thursday evening at an awards dinner in Toronto. It was chosen as the overall winner from among eight category winners by a panel of five judges including  co-chairs Stanley Péan and Soraya Peerbaye. 

 “The Kit Compact proposes a fresh, feminist vision of the fashion magazine, foregrounding the female body as a site of knowledge, curiosity, resistance, and joy,” wrote Peerbaye. “This is a magazine that sees Canadian women not as consumers, but as creators—and re-creators—of culture. The Kit defines a spectrum of ideals that goes far beyond norms of beauty, to hold a multiplicity of notions on the body, identity and community, celebrating both independence and interdependence.”

The eight best magazine award category winners were:

• Best General Interest Magazine: The Walrus
• Best Service and Lifestyle Magazine: Chatelaine
• Best Food and Beverage Magazine: Dînette Magazine
• Best Fashion and Beauty Magazine: The Kit Compact
• Best Home Design and Décor Magazine, including Gardening: Western Living
• Best Literature and Art Magazine, including Poetry: esse arts + opinions
• Best Science, Business and Politics Magazine: Québec Science
• Best Niche/Special Interest Magazine: Hayo

As previously announced, Carole Beaulieu accepted the Editor Grand Prix for  her work with L’actualité, the Quebec current affairs magazine. 

[Complete list of finalists, winners and judges for each award.]


In addition to the Magazine Grand Prix and Editor Grand Prix, four other "Grand Prix" awards were made honouring broad achievement in videography, motion graphics and multi-platform treatment as well as the contributions of writers, photographers, illustrators, editors and art directors: 

• Best Art Direction of an Entire Issue was awarded to Carey van der Zalm for excellence and innovation in visual design and style for her work on The Site Magazine’s Volume 35: Borders.
• Best Multi-Platform Story Treatment was awarded to Maclean’s for using multiple platforms to engage readers and increase the impact of Michael Friscolanti’s story about a group of Canadians who sponsored a Syrian refugee family, “Saving Family No. 417.”
• Best Multi-Platform Magazine Brand was awarded to Cottage Life for the magazine’s use of technology to enhance its identity; its commitment to engaging and expanding its relationship with readers through multiple platforms; and how effectively it infuses its content with a recognizable brand.
• Best Cover, honouring excellence and innovation in design that heightens the impact of a magazine cover and helps it connect with and inform its audience, was awarded to FLARE for their August 2016 cover featuring Herieth Paul.

Forty-nine individual creators were finalists in 11 categories for best story and best art. .The winners were:

• Best General Interest Story: John Hofsess, “By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead,” Toronto Life
• Best Service and Lifestyle Story: Jean Grant, Malcolm Johnston, Rebecca Philps, Mark Pupo, Caroline Youdan, “The Big Smoke,” Toronto Life
• Best Food and Beverage Story: Amy Rosen, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Calisson,” enRoute
• Best Fashion and Beauty Story: Emmanuelle Martinez-Curvalle, “La confusion des genres,” ELLE Québec
• Best Home Design and Décor Story, including Gardening: Hedvig Alexander, John Baker, Arren Williams, “Travel by Design,” Globe Style Advisor
• Best Entertainment and Celebrities Story: Omar Mouallem, “The Fight of His Life,” Avenue Calgary
• Best Literature and Art Story, including Poetry: M. Bayless, “So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish,” EVENT
• Best Science, Business and Politics Story: Nancy Macdonald, “Justice is Not Blind,” Maclean’s
• Best Niche/Special Interest Story: Graham Candy, Yuyang Liu, “Winning and Losing in Modern China,” Peeps
• Best Feature Photography or Videography: Matt Barnes, “Laces of Death,” Sharp: The Book for Men
• Best Illustration or Motion Graphics: Byron Eggenschwiler, “Astronaut Wives,” Vancouver Magazine

This was the first year for the new awards, produced by Magazines Canada and presented in collabortion with MagNet, the industry conference. Some 350 people attended the event at the Four Seasons Hotel.

The Magazine Grands Prix is wholly separate from the National Magazine Awards which will be presented for their 40th year on May 26th in Toronto.