The Great Discontent 02

It must be a very good month for Ryan and Tina Essmaker, the married duo behind the inspirational project named The Great Discontent. Their platform was launched as a digital publication focussing on the darker side of creativity; the risks, the failures and the disappointments everyone who creates has to deal with, which they last year translated to a great tactile printed publication. Funded through Kickstarter, and in a collaboration with designer Frank Chimero, who assisted with editorial design and art direction, the first issue of the printed quarterly magazine saw light in the Summer of 2014 and was received very positive. At the beginning of this month the beautiful second issue was officially launched and some weeks later it was announced that the TGD debut was totally sold out, underlining that the step taken by Ryan and Tina to fully focus on their platform was a great decision. The second printed issue, with singer Sharon van Etten on the cover, revolves around the theme of hustle and implores the reader to reconsider the idea of making it —both how we do it and how we define it— which proves to be another perfect angle for the honest and revealing stories by The Great Discontent.

The stories to be found in The Great Discontent 02, next to the article on folk rock singer-songwriter Sharon van Etten, range from journalist and cartoonist Molly Crabaplle, the very inspirational photographer and videographer Paul Octavious, to fashion designer Samantha Pleet, comedian and entrepreneur Kevin Allison, artist and illustrator Jon Contino and the very talented artist Michael Cina, among others. In our eyes it is another win for Ryan and Tina who have found such an interesting postion to cover the creative industry from, making everything they put out worth the read.

In August 2011, Ryan and Tina Essmaker founded The Great Discontent as a side project to fulfill their desire to work together outside of their traditional day jobs. Since then, they’ve published many interviews with individuals from a variety of creative disciplines, reached readers all over the globe, and launched the online film-based series, Two Minutes with TGD. In January 2014, Ryan and Tina took the leap and left their day jobs to focus on The Great Discontent and other content-related projects via No Little Plans, their creative studio based in New York City. In the Sumer of the same year they completed their very first printed issue of The Great Discontent and last month their second issue, with a lot more fascinating stories to be told by them in the future, surely.

I have this perpetual feeling of dissatisfaction, and the only thing that quells it is pushing myself to try new things. TGD is fulfilling because it involves a large range of creative disciplines. Dissatisfaction is what drives you forward. It’s an essential part of the creative process.

For more information and to order The Great Discontent 02 see here.