A special relationship, magazine style

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Dec 15, 2001 by Greg Lindsay

You may think your editorial and art staffs have trouble communicating, but try launching a new magazine with an ocean between the two departments.

That's what Jefferson Hack set out to do with his new Another Magazine, a slick twice-yearly fashion title that's even more lushly produced than his British fashion bible, Dazed & Confused.

Hack, who's involved with supermodel Kate Moss, handed the reins of D&C to his deputy to give Another Magazine his undivided attention. But he then divided his staff by hiring a creative director and support staff in New York, while he ran editorial from London--all to bridge the creative communities of New York and London.

So how does this work? "Through the Internet, e-mail, cell phone, telephone, Fax--and that's just the technical part of it," says creative director Alex Wiederin, who created the prototype for Jane. "It also takes consensus and discipline, but it works out really well."

Planning for each issue begins with several trans-Atlantic flights. After a rough concept for an issue is worked out, Wiederin and his staff assign photo shoots and begin concocting layouts, while Hack assigns features back in London.

Once the duo begin assembling the issue, files are stored on a server in London, and workflow issues begin to sort themselves out, thanks to the five-hour time difference between New York and London. "They flow text and stuff into it, then leave," Wiederin says. "I lay it out, then they check it the next day, and then we have a conversation about it...It's a perfect workflow in that instance."