Plastikcomb Magazine (PCM) is an independent publication dedicated to contemporary art and international artists. It features in-depth interviews, bold creatives, and a heavy dose of art—all wrapped in striking, unconventional layouts.
With a visual style that nods to 1990s design icons like Raygun Magazine and BlahBlahBlah Magazine, PCM blends nostalgia with innovation to create something refreshingly "new old."
While PCM showcases a wide spectrum of artistic practices—from painting to photography and beyond—there’s a subtle emphasis on collage artists, whose fragmented, layered aesthetics resonate deeply with the magazine’s experimental spirit.
Typographically and graphically, Plastikcomb Magazine challenges the norms of traditional magazine design. Founders Aaron L. Beebe and {ths} share a vision: to push the boundaries of print media by playing with structure, style, and chaos in a way that feels both deliberate and unexpected.
While PCM could easily be “just” a magazine of interviews, it aspires to something more: with every issue, it becomes a work of art in its own right. Each layout is distinct. It's like biting into a bratwurst only to taste sweet cake—surprising, playful, and oddly delightful.
Plastikcomb Magazine is published twice a year.
ABOUT
HISTORY
What do you get when you have two graphic designers who have no formal training and live 3,292 miles apart? Plastikcomb Magazine…Their story begins in 2020…two artists that never met start a magazine based on the great chaotic editorial publications from the past. They proceed to produce four issues without even a simple phone call, merely through emails and texts.
Aaron L. Beebe – Founder
Aaron is a design school drop out, and worked for his Uncle Sam for a good part of his life doing governmental stuff and bureaucratic things. He could never get a real job as an art director, so he started his own magazine to declare the title.
As I write this small intro about him, I am still not sure how he manages to pull off some of his harebrained schemes. He has done some art according to his CV, but not sure if it truly can be classified as such.
But regardless, he made a magazine, mostly in part to his amazing Team to pick up the pieces, and to hold his hand through the process.
{ths} Thomas Schostok – Co-Founder
Known for BEAST PDF Magazine, developed in the early 2000s, which surprisingly is considered legendary by many, and guilty as far as the prosecution is concerned of being a co-founder (or follower?) of a strange dirty design style that spawned a generation of trash-style-addicted graphic designers.
{ths} spent most of his time as an artist, designer, and typographer over the last two decades, developing the very products of his profession. Apart from a short stopover as a test subject for beers that can only be drunk in swimming pools, that's all that was relevant. The latter will go into the history books, the rest must be forgotten.
20+ years later, he wants to know again and besides all the other things he does, he works as a supporting force at Plastikcomb Magazine. Hail to the King, Baby, again!
Paul B. Drohan – Staff Designer
Paul is a designer and artist exiled in the Mojave Desert and the jungles of Costa Rica—safely out of range of self-driving cars and artisanal speakeasies.
He spends most of his time figuring out ways AI can take over the world and how he can surf every day. He continues to participate in a variety of art/design magazines like PCM and 46pgs.
He and his wife recently launched the Costa Rican beach culture brand “OSA Vida” and created the First Annual “Mojave Zine Exhibit”. His dad once told him, “You should take over the family copy machine business…you’ll never make a livin’ in art.”
