Magma

Needed a unique/​cool notebook to use as a scrapbook for my adventures abroad. Stumbled upon this on Unilocal and went for it. I absolutely adore shops like this. I probably walked around to look at everything three times before deciding on a really nice Japanese-​bound bound notebook that’s was perfect for what it needed to be. Perfect spot for gifts, books and stationary.

Completely my scene, well, my type of shops. So if you read this, and we’re somehow directly or even indirectly related (because I’m a Unilocaler, like you, for example), just know that you can offer me anything from this shop. Lifestyle magazines, so beautiful that you don’t dare to touch, small design stuff that you dream to have at home, colourful cards & posters… my birthday is the 13^th of may. just saying.

Half art books and magazines and half things you likely only half want but would make an acceptable and perhaps unusual gift. This book shop is well worth a browse or stopping by at if you are obliged to buy someone a physical item.

Amazing store with an amazing collection of quirky books, toys, magazines and cards. Great for the people who are hard to shop for and a true gem for those of us who are artists at heart or went to art school of some sort. I said I was only going to peruse but ended up buying the funniest book called Hate Mail by Mr Bingo that made me snort and shake uncontrollably with laughter like a crazy person, as I read it on the tube. I will definitely be going back and buying more!

Brilliant collection of quirky children’s books with great illustrations and wonderful stories that are interesting enough for the adult set, too. Just popped my head into the store to poke around for a bit, and couldn’t resist walking out of the door with 5 titles. Can’t wait to return for more! Fun tote bags, as well, and also a large selection of design/​fashion/​creative industry magazines.

You know those people in your life that are impossible to gift? The ones that already have everything, are extra picky, absurdly practical, or utter aesthetes? Yeah, you know what I’m talking about (or recognise that you’re exactly the kind of person I’m writing about).
Hey, it’s fine. I resemble these remarks, too.
Enter: Magma. It’s the shop where the products contained within lean in the direction of purposelessness. They’re whimsical yet thoughtful; they’re strange yet sensible.
You’ll find all sorts of design-​related books and magazines, a variety of non-​Hallmark cards, a random assortment of obscure games and entertainment, and trinkets/​bric-​à-​brac galore.
When you’re at your wit’s end on shopping for that ‘special’ someone, pop into Magma to save your sanity.

Magma carries all manner of gift items and is a particularly good shop if the person you’re buying for is a designer, architect or otherwise keen about aesthetics. Here you’ll find an array of design books, tote bags, games, toys and t-​shirts.
I fell in love with the Moomins at Magma. Who are these Moomins you might be wondering, and where do they live? This family of hippopotamus-​like trolls resides in the Finnish forest in a house in Moominvalley. Their irresistibly cute snouts endeared me to them immediately and I simply had to purchase two placemats with their sweet likenesses on them.
I have a glass dining table — which is not something I picked out myself (if I had my way I’d eat upon something made of wood) but it came with the flat so… yeah. Plates directly upon glass are jarring so I’d taken to putting down tea towels prior to the purchase of my Moomins. Now every meal is infinitely more pleasurable with these adorable characters on my table.

Little bookshop with great design, urban, art, and DIY books. Perfect place for quirky gifts, and they have a small collection of prints you can buy and get framed for your flat.

Magma is like an Adult Book Store except it only sells Graphic Design porn and novelties to the horn-​rimmed Mac set. The book selection is great — if you are into design, UI, or web programming there are a ton of great books available. They have a good selection of T-​shirts and small home décor items as well — some are more novelty than functional (I didn’t like much of their kitchen stuff) but the purely decorative stuff is wonderfully stocked.
My score from Magma was a book cataloging Russian prison tattoos and their meanings. So much for my dream of getting a goat head on my upper bicep.

Impossible to walk past for designy types like me. Great selection of books and magazines covering all facets of design, and experts at removing my plastic from my wallet.
Worth a trip to Clerkenwell for.

I absolutely absolutely adore this place.
Derry N. hit the nail on the head with the ‘aspirational retail experience.’ Just about 100% of the beautifully designed, creative, innovative, magical items in the store make my heart quicken and make me covet with all my being. I want the gorgeous design books to display on my sleek modern bookshelf and the whimsical toys to arrange on my antique wooden mantelpiece and the brilliant art to affix on the walls of my spotless and perfectly vintage-​wallpapered home. These are all things that only exist in my dreams, just like the items in Magma that I will maybe someday own. When I win the lottery.
Magma makes me buy books I can’t really afford. Luckily, they have a phenomenal selection of amusing and attractive greeting cards that I can afford. And I can just go browse and look at all the beautiful things and read a lovingly curated selection of children’s books and let my heart fill with happiness (and covetousness).
Seriously, Magma is a museum of design enjoyment. Just go spend some time there. And hope to win the lottery.

I love Magma for niche magazines and off-​the-​wall design-​conscious gifts. If you’re shopping for something to take to the park or a gift for one of your geeky Mac-​friends, this is probably one of the first places you should stop. Even if I’m not in the mood to buy books, it’s nice to look at the random things and find some inspiration for the day.

Ein winziger laden voll mit schmuckstücken. wunderbare design– und kunstbücher, grandiose pixelart plakate, kidrobots und comics. Dvds von design über kunst und architektur und andere kleine spielereien die eigentlich niemand braucht die das leben aber wunderbar angenehm und schön bunt machen :)

Forget Harrods and the Old Brompton Maserati garage — this is what I call an aspirational retail experience. I’m confident I will never afford much of anything that is offered for sale in this shrine to London’s creative media and graphic design set. Not only that, but if I ever do buy a book, I won’t understand its real use, remaining like a toddler gazing and dribbling at the pretty pictures in National Geographic. And they are pretty.
Titles like HELVETICA FOREVER and TRANSIT MAPS OF THE WORLD befuddle and bemuse. Before you ask where these authors get the job of writing on such joyously random topics, take a look at the magazine rack. After countless visits I still haven’t quite figured out how normal people are expected to buy a monthly mag which costs £8 and has no name, and only about 50 words accompanying each ‘story’.
And yet I keep going back to Magma. One of the reasons are the brilliant gift ideas. For example, mugs, plastic manga toys, creative art and pop-​up books. Another reason are the e-​Boy posters. I have Berlin and London and aim to collect all of the cities depicted in pixellated, monster-​attacked glory.

This place is one of those that has the unexpected.
What it is, is a temple of the graphic arts, especially comic books. So no reverence at all. But, even if you are not a comic fan, you will enjoy browsing the quirky, amusing and sometimes stimulating and provocative stuff they stock. One of those shops that often serve when you are searching for that difficult present.

I will go slightly out of my way for a few moments of eye candy browsing at the Clerkenwell Road location of Magma Books. The small shop sells all sorts of art and design books as well as an awesome, if limited, selection of toys, DVDs and other interesting products. They also have a wall full of brilliant magazines like Juxtapoz and don’t seem to mind folks popping in for a free perusal. Of course, I often go in just to look and end up buying something. I always find neat-​o things to read and ogle for me (usually) and my friends — Magma is a great place for last minute gift shopping.
The Magma flagship location near Cambridge Circus is cool too, but I prefer this one. Its layout is easier to navigate, and they seem to have all the same stuff. Being a short walk from Daddy Donkey’s Leather Lane location is a plus too.

Magma is a great place for creatives to bask in a bit of inspiration on the lunch break and drool over the books. It sells design books, publications, t shirts, magazines and posters. I pop in at least once a year, usually with a list of books my husband is after and they are always very helpful and attentive in deciphering his handwriting and pointing me in the right direction. It’s a small shop but well worth a look if shoping for someone creative.