The Modernist

Name

The Modernist

Legal name

The Modernist Society CIC

Website

https://the-modernist.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architecture Publishing & Cultural Retail

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (51312), Book Publishers (51313), Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN)

Keywords

• Architecture publishing
• Modernist design magazine
• Cultural bookshop
• Architecture walking tours
• Design publications

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Annual membership program offering access to the magazine (3 issues/year), exclusive member discounts (10% off shop), priority booking for events, pin badge, and invitations to launches. Standard £50/year, Concessions £35/year, Joint £65/year, Super Supporter from £10/month.
2. Magazine Subscriptions and Single Issues: Annual magazine subscription at £50/year (UK), with international rates varying. Individual issues available for purchase at approximately $14 each. Published three times yearly.
3. Book and Publication Sales: Sales of published books on British modernist architecture, graphic design, and urban culture. Titles include Modernist Graphic Design in Britain 1945-1980 ($55), Modernist Scotland ($66), Red Square ($41), and Architectural City Guides ($24).
4. Merchandise and Print Sales: Sale of posters, prints, t-shirts, badges, bags, stationery, and homeware featuring modernist design elements and architectural photography. Products include Gunner Gu Manchester photographs, Otl Aicher pictogram items, Hornsea pottery collaborations, and 20th century typeface merchandise.
5. Events and Tours: Revenue from ticketed walking tours (mooches), talks, and events. Events include city walks in Manchester, Sheffield, York, Liverpool, and other locations with ticket prices from approximately $9.
6. Donations: One-time or regular donations accepted to support the not-for-profit Community Interest Company's work. Donation amounts range from £50 to £1000.
7. Gift Vouchers: Gift vouchers sold in denominations of £10 to £100, redeemable on the online shop or at the physical Manchester store. Cannot be used for magazine subscriptions or memberships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Modernist is a Manchester-based independent publisher, specialist bookshop, and gallery dedicated to twentieth-century architecture and design. It publishes a tri-annual limited-edition print magazine (the modernist), self-publishes books on British modernist architecture, graphic design, and typography, and operates the only architecture and design specialist bookshop in Manchester. The organization also runs exhibitions, walking tours (mooches), talks, film screenings, and a free mobile app providing architectural tours in 6 UK cities.

Product overview

The Modernist is a Manchester-based independent publisher, gallery, and cultural organisation offering a diversified portfolio of print and digital products focused on twentieth-century architecture and design. The core offerings consist of The Modernist Magazine (a tri-annual limited-edition publication), self-published books covering British modernist architecture, graphic design, and typography, and the free Modernist App providing interactive city tours. The product line extends to zines, Commonplace photography magazine, posters and prints, stationery, clothing, homeware, and badges. Services include membership subscriptions, event tickets for talks and walking tours, exhibition access, and magazine subscriptions. The company operates a physical gallery-bookshop in Manchester and maintains chapters in multiple UK cities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Modernist Magazine An international, limited-edition print magazine about twentieth-century architecture and design, published three times per year, exploring under-appreciated modernist buildings, design, and urban culture across Britain. Available as individual issues ($14 each) or via annual subscription.
• Books Published by The Modernist Limited-edition books on twentieth-century British architecture, graphic design, typography, and urban culture, including titles such as Modernist Graphic Design in Britain 1945-1980, Modernist Scotland, Red Square, Quiet Light, and architectural city guides.
• Commonplace A collaborative photographic magazine published six times yearly in partnership with UHM! Publishing, celebrating uncelebrated modernist spaces including housing estates, brutalist car parks, and post-war civic centres in Britain and Ireland.
• The Modernist App A free-to-use mobile tour app covering modernist architecture in Manchester, Glasgow, Sheffield, Huddersfield, Bristol, and Liverpool, offering interactive maps, curated guided tours, building descriptions, and event information. Available on iOS and Android.
• Stationery Products Notebooks, sketchbooks, playing cards, greeting cards, and maps featuring modernist design themes, including Pith notebooks, Eames playing cards, and Blue Crow Maps.
• Posters and Prints Photography prints of modernist architecture by Gunner Gu, exhibition posters including München 72, Eugene Schlumberger prints, and screenprints such as Charles Eames Chair by Mishka Henner.
• T-shirts and Clothing Apparel featuring modernist typography and architecture imagery, including typeface-themed t-shirts (Univers, Futura, Albertus, Cooper Black, Rockwell), and location-specific designs for Hull Docks, Swansea Docks, Grimsby Docks, and Barbican.
• Objects and Homeware Design objects and homeware including Otl Aicher pictogram products (breakfast cups, card wallets, passport wallets, coasters, tea towels), playing cards, and Hornsea ceramic collaborations.
• Badges and Bags Enamel pins, tote bags, and badges featuring modernist themes including Preston Bus Station Clock Badge, Modernist Scotland Badge, Jodrell Bank Badge, and Magpie x Hornsea collaborations.
• Gift Vouchers Digital gift vouchers available in denominations from £10 to £100, redeemable online or in the physical Manchester shop. Cannot be used for magazine subscriptions or memberships.
• Membership Subscriptions Annual membership options including Standard (£50/year), Concessions (£35/year for students/unwaged), Joint Membership (£65/year for two people), and Super Supporter (from £10/month), providing magazine delivery, member discounts, priority booking, and exclusive access.
• Magazine Annual Subscription Recurring annual subscription for The Modernist Magazine delivering three issues per year (February, June, November) to UK, Europe, Rest of World, and USA addresses, with shipping included.
• Talks and Tours Walking tours (mooches), talks, and film screenings organised across UK cities including Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, York, Stockport, and others, often featuring expert guides and architectural historians. Ticket prices from approximately $9.
• Exhibitions Rolling gallery exhibitions at the Manchester shop featuring photography, painting, print, and illustration celebrating twentieth-century architecture and design, with exhibitions running approximately two months each.
• Zines and Magazines Smaller-format publications including TALKIN'BOUT 1976!, The North East Connection, Speculative Suburban Apartments 1933-39, Flying Saucer - Preston's Guild Hall, and Erno Goldfinger Mini Guide.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17+ years of continuous operation championing modernist architecture
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FablrcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024App development and hosting partner for The Modernist App. Fablr built the free mobile application providing architectural tours across 6 UK cities.
• HighRise CommunicationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPR and communications support. Provided valuable advice and support for media relations.
• BDPcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerArchitectural firm supporting the talks programme through generous sponsorship. Partnership includes The BDP Talk Series featuring talks on architecture and design.
• Bookshop.orgminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExternal online bookstore partnership providing broader book selection on the Bookshop.org platform.
• VitsœminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHost venue for The Modernist Book Fair as part of London Festival of Architecture.
• Warburg InstituteminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVenue for Biblioteka Art Book Fair 2026.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Domus Magazine: Long-running international architecture and design magazine with print subscription and digital archive; similar editorial positioning to The Modernist but broader in geographic and stylistic scope.

Broad incumbents

• Phaidon Press: Global publisher of authoritative books on architecture, design, and visual arts; competes for the same design-literate book buyer that The Modernist targets with its architecture and graphic design titles, but at much larger catalogue scale.
• Assouline: Publisher of luxury illustrated books and cultural gift editions with a strong architecture and design catalogue and own-brand boutique retail presence — highly comparable operating model to The Modernist's limited-edition books and Manchester gallery-bookshop.
• RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects): The UK's chartered body for architecture, publishing RIBA Journal, books and architecture resources — overlapping with The Modernist on architecture publishing, membership-based engagement, and advocacy, but at much larger institutional scale.
• Wallpaper*: International design, architecture, and lifestyle magazine with subscription model, premium merchandise, and event extensions — a scaled-up analogue of The Modernist's magazine-plus-shop-plus-events approach.
• Thames & Hudson: Major illustrated book publisher with a large architecture and design list; comparable to The Modernist on book product format, design-led editorial sensibility, and gift/merchandise adjacent categories.

Direct peers

• Open House Worldwide: Network of city-level organisations (including London's Open House) running free architecture walking tours, talks, and events that overlap directly with The Modernist's mooches, talks programme, and Modernist App tours.
• Blueprint Magazine: UK architecture and design magazine and platform covering contemporary practice with print and digital products; comparable subscription, editorial, and event-driven model to The Modernist.
• Icon Magazine: Independent design and architecture magazine covering global contemporary design with print subscription and editorial focus closely aligned to The Modernist's periodical and writing-led approach.
• The Twentieth Century Society (C20 Society): UK charity campaigning for the preservation and appreciation of post-war and modern architecture; shares The Modernist's advocacy-driven, membership-based, publication-and-events model in the same 20th-century modernist niche.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/modernistmagazine
• Xx.com/modernistmag
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-modernist-society-cic

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Modernist