Charlotte Rubesa founded a print-first publication asking what happens after peak internet, bringing together fifteen contributors across essays, interviews and reflections in a riso-printed, hand-embossed first issue that embodies the slower, more intentional culture it argues for.
The exhaustion is real. A media landscape optimised almost entirely for speed, scale and constant visibility has a cost, for audiences and for the people making things within it. Charlotte Rubesa founded Quiet Media as a response to that cost, and as evidence that a different approach is possible.
The first issue, launched in April 2026 as a limited run of 300 copies, brings together fifteen contributors from across media, technology, design and culture to ask what happens after peak internet. Essays, interviews and cultural reflections examine digital fatigue, ambient technology, offline connection, the difference between depth and scale, and the idea that innovation may now come from restraint rather than acceleration. “Quiet Media began from a feeling that so much of contemporary culture has become optimised for speed, visibility and constant output,” Rubesa says. “I wanted to create space for a different rhythm, creating something that puts more value on depth, reflection and more intentional forms of attention.”
The production of the issue was designed to enact what it argues. Riso-printed by Cecilie Press for its tactile quality, subtle imperfections and physical richness, and hand-embossed in Portland by Kyle Miller, the publication is housed in a custom blue pocket. Editorial designers Meara Withe and Jake Buckley developed a design philosophy for the project that reflects its wider commitment to depth and slowness. Original illustrations throughout were created by Tobi Meuwissen, building a visual language that feels tactile and reflective rather than fast. As Withe describes it: “The publication was crafted to be a tactile artefact, using one-colour risograph printing on uncoated paper and housed in a custom, hand-embossed blue pocket. Every detail, from the physical assembly of the 300 copies to the design of the shapes on the crimping plates, was designed to offer a calm, sensory experience that mirrors the slow, mindful philosophy of the content.”
Quiet Media is continuing as a community as much as a publication, with conversations, events and future issues planned around slower media and more meaningful cultural exchange.
Charlotte Rubesa is Communications Strategy Director at Wieden+Kennedy London and founder and editor of Quiet Media.
Website: quietmedia.substack.com Instagram: @quietmediamag
Quiet Media, Issue 1, April 2026. Limited edition of 300. Risograph printed by Cecilie Press. Embossing by Kyle Miller, Portland. Editorial design: Meara Withe and Jake Buckley. Illustration: Tobi Meuwissen. Photography: Meara Withe.
