We spend a great amount of time deciding on content for each issue. It’s based on evaluation and analysis, not intuition. We evaluate each issue, we ask critical questions to make sure we keep developing and creating ever better products. I want the perfect balance between trivial lifestyle stories and professional articles of 3,500 words. What is the approximate number of pages of every issue? 160. Our issue is about ‘the new editors’. How do you perceive the role of editor today? How has it shifted since the advent of the digital age and changed media consumption? Today’s editors need to know a lot more than the ones who ruled before the technology boom. I usually say that we spend 20% of our time creating the print issue; everything else is all about digital presence and social media. You have to be on top of the game, and you have to treat your magazine like any other brand — what story do you want to tell, how and where do you tell it? It’s no longer enough to simply create good content, since everybody can make good content. The ones that will survive are fast, agile, and smart. You need to be able to turn around quickly and constantly make [the right] changes because the industry and market are changing all the time. What inspires you most about Norway? The fact that we are challengers, that we’re onto something great. I love talking to passionate people who are ready to kick some ass. Norwegians have got so much knowledge and talent they want to show the world. Simply talking to an architect or a designer is pure bliss. People can talk for hours about their passions, which I find very inspiring and beautiful. Things are changing a lot over here. There is a strong pulse, an animal waking up. It’s electrifying and I feel so grateful for being a part of the change. I know Norway will make an impact on the international design industry and it’s about time.
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NEW EDITORS
I like honest and unpretentious content. I want things to be inspiring and engaging, but far from naive and ‘too perfect’. I think many creative magazines focus only on the positive sides of the industry and in this way create a distance between the content and the reality. I want people to learn a lot and I want to tell real stories that make people want to get out of their chairs and unfold themselves creatively.
Where is the magazine being sold and how many copies are printed? We print 3000 copies that are sold all over the world, mostly in design shops, book stores and magazine shops, museums etc. Our top countries are Norway, Taiwan, the UK, Italy, the USA, and Denmark. How many issues did you plan on releasing when you launched the magazine? Has your aim changed in the meantime? We’ll do this for as long as people buy it and we find it inspiring and fun. How many people visit the website? How many people follow you online compared to buying the print version? Digital is always bigger than print. We have an average of 15,000 monthly visits. The print magazine is our product, the core of our brand, while the digital platforms — the web and social media—are where we build and communicate. How do you select the articles for the online version of the magazine? It depends on whatever we find interesting at the moment. We receive submissions and we discover
Chapter 2 introduces a new theme in every issue, where the content, design, and layout all reflect the chosen topic. For instance, Volume 8 was about urban design; the layout, made by Lid & Wiken, drew inspiration from the tube or underground in New York City and London. Photography by Andris Søndrol Visdal.