The name is an acronym. AKT stands for A Kind Tribute — three words that describe not just the magazine's editorial approach but the temperament of the two people who make it. Jessy Van Durme is a graphic designer trained as an interior architect. Piet-Albert Goethals is a photographer whose measured technique rebels against the commercial age of image-making — he waits for the right light, finds the right perspective, and puts equal care into every frame. They are married, live near Brussels with their two sons, and in late 2017 they took the stacks of magazines and books that had been accumulating in their home and decided to add one of their own.
AKT launched with its first issue in October 2018 and has published annually since, with six issues to date. Each one runs to nearly 200 pages in an oversized 240×340mm format — what magCulture has described as an open-bound XL design annual spotlighting the work of artisans, artists, and architects. The subjects span architecture, design, fashion, food, and beyond, but they are united by a sensibility that is distinctly Belgian: understated, materially intelligent, and allergic to anything that feels forced or fashionable. Issue one featured conversations with sculptor Kaspar Hamacher, artist Berlinde De Bruyckere, and architect Thomas Haarmann. Issue two included Linde Freya Tangelder of Destroyers/Builders and interior architect Arjaan De Feyter. The names alone tell you where AKT is looking: at the quiet end of European design, where the work speaks and the people behind it prefer not to shout.
Piet has said that on holiday he deliberately leaves his camera behind, preferring to see things with his own eyes rather than through a lens. It is a small detail, but it reveals something fundamental about the magazine's philosophy: AKT values presence over production, attention over output. The interviews are unhurried. The photography is calm and commanding with what Goethals calls a hint of spontaneity. Every piece of content is made in-house by Jessy and Piet's team — no reprints, no syndicated material, no borrowed images. If it appears in AKT, they made it.
In 2022, they translated the magazine's vision into physical space with L'Officine, a contemporary getaway in the Belgian countryside. They also offer a creative consultancy that brings the same care to client projects — brand identities, publication layouts, interior design, photography — that they bring to the magazine. It is a model that makes the publication sustainable without compromising its editorial independence: the magazine feeds the consultancy, the consultancy funds the magazine, and both are expressions of the same conviction that honesty, permanence, and tactility still matter in a volatile digital world.
For Jessy and Piet, the print format is not a nostalgic choice. It is a deliberate one. The very presence of a magazine, they have written, carves a conscious physical space for reading and contemplation. In a media landscape that rewards speed and volume, AKT publishes once a year because that is how long it takes to make something worth keeping. The tribute, as the name promises, is kind. It is also permanent.
Explore AKT at <a href="https://www.aktmagazine.com/" target="\_blank">aktmagazine.com