Why did we do this?

The Long + Short offered stories of innovation to audiences that, while interested in new ideas and the way the world is changing, didn't typically identify with Nesta or the innovation community in general.

Over the two and a half years the magazine was produced, the publication told stories of innovation that challenged, entertained and inspired. Stories of entrepreneurship, new ideas and how the world is changing. Stories that were better told journalistically, rather than through formalised research.

Nearly all of the content was published under a Creative Commons license, and despite the magazine ceasing publication in March 2017, remains so. This allows you to republish stories on your own platforms, so long as you provide full credit.

More details about licensing can be found here.

What did we do?

We created an online publication to offer a journalistic and storytelling approach to innovation. In the style of a traditional print quarterly, there were four issues a year - however, stories were published over month-long seasons rather than all at once.

The magazine was exclusively online: as a website, a tablet app and on mobile. Each season was organised around a theme or a core idea: tackled from multiple vantage points.

Look back through the archives and you'll find stories on everything from how Stan Smith shoes were brought back into fashion, to why the Francis Crick Institute was built, or what led Fosbury to flop at the 1968 Olympics.

The magazine also published stories on anti-mindfulness, cashless futures, basic income and having your brain zapped in the name of self-improvement. There were series on futuristic plans for cities that didn't work out and a history of innovation in music to dance to, alongside looks at why the world went mad for labs.

The Long + Short ceased publication in March 2017. The archive will remain online for the foreseeable future.