As a member of the publishing community, I feel the need to buy and subscribe to as many magazines as I can get my hands on. I pick up a new magazine almost every day to entertain me during my commute to New York, and I almost always subscribe after buying a few issues. But this is the first time that I’ve been so moved by a publishing company that I’ve felt the need to write about it.

JPG Magazine is one of the best looking, well written, and intelligent magazines on the newsstand today. But what makes it rise above all the other photo/design books is its adoption of a new magazine standard and method of publication. All content is user generated by visitors to the magazines Web site. Anyone can write a column or snap a picture and submit it to the magazine for peer and editor review. The top writers/photogs get $100 and a subscription to the magazine. More importantly, the editors of JPG have a constant flow of fresh copy, and an endless pool of writers and creative types to choose from. This is Magazine 2.0.

The best part of the magazine is the quality of work that actually makes it onto the pages. This isn’t shoddy, second-rate journalism churned out by jaded bloggers or hack photographers. Columns such as how to use a cheap camera, how to shoot a rock concert, and what is a pinhole camera? are scattered amongst endless pages of stunning photos based around rotating themes. The page design is minimalist and easy to read. The designers use white space to their advantage, and the result is a classy magazine that will always skip the recycling bin for the bookshelf.

JPG was founded a few years back by husband and wife team Derek and Heather Powazek as a pricey coffee table style magazine originally published by Lulu Press. The book had a ton of wow factor, but little advertising support. In 2006 Derek, along with Paul Cloutier, Halsey Minor, and a financial backer formed 8020 Publishing and relaunched the magazine using www.jpgmag.com as the key source for user content. From the looks of it, the magazine now has a healthy supply of sponsors, and the quality has only improved over the last year. The Powazek’s have since departed from 8020, but the quality of the magazine has not been hindered. In fact, 8020 is set to launch “Everywhere” this Fall. The new travel book will use JPG’s Magazine 2.0 template, and if it is anywhere near as nice as JPG, 8020 should have another fantastic magazine on the stands.