Guide
A digital Christmas gift for your boyfriend that isn't another gift card
Boyfriends are famously hard to buy for at Christmas. He already has the headphones, he says he does not need anything, and the gift card feels like giving up. What he cannot buy himself is a record of your year together, made by you.
On Longlove that is The Magazine: a flip-through magazine about the two of you, with your names on the cover, a letter, your story, nine reasons on hearts that flip, film strips of your photos, your songs on a spinning vinyl and 'Merry Christmas' on the back cover. It opens on his phone from a link, and he can write back.
Use the Noir style
The magazine comes in three styles. For a boyfriend, Noir usually lands best: black and white with sharp type, closer to a music magazine than a greeting card. Cherry, the warm red and cream, is the more festive option if he is the one who puts the tree up in November. You can switch at any point while you build.
Fill it with things only you two would get
The reasons are where a magazine for him gets good. Skip 'you're kind' and write the specific ones: the way he narrates what the dog is thinking, how he always takes the side of the bed by the door, the terrible pun he is proud of. Nine is the number, and each one sits on a heart he taps to flip. The photo pages work the same way: the blurry ones from good nights beat the posed ones.
Put your songs on the vinyl
The songs page plays the songs that belong to you two on a spinning record. Paste Spotify links for the one from your first date, the one he plays too loud in the car, the one you hate that he loves. It is the page boyfriends tend to come back to, because it is the one they can actually use.
Say one thing out loud
On the letter page you can add a voice recording of up to thirty seconds, made right in the editor. If writing a letter to him feels like too much, keep the letter short and put the real thing in your voice. He will play it more than once, and you get an email the first time he does.
Send it so it is waiting on Christmas morning
After you send it, set the time it opens. Until then his link shows a countdown, so you can send it on Christmas Eve and know he cannot open it early. You get an email the moment he opens it, and another if he writes back from the last page.
Questions
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Start with The Magazine
Starts as The Magazine, filled in for you. Add your photos and words, preview it for free.
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