Kristina DiMatteo, Design Director, Brand and Marketing at New York Media

SPD: What year? 
Kristina DiMatteo: 1994-1996

SPD: What were you up to? 
KD: I was commuting to school in Manhattan studying design. My schedule was broken up awkwardly so I often had windows of downtime where I would walk around the city getting inspired, or go to magazine shops to soak up the latest issues of my favorite magazines (Rolling Stone, Ray Gun, Flaunt, Colors and Interview).  

SPD: What magazine?
KD: Dance Ink 

SPD: What was it that so enthralled you? 
KD: One day I stumbled upon this oversized uniquely printed quarterly about Dance. It was an experience different from what I was used to seeing, not quite indy grit not quite glossy.

Because of its independent nature and art form it covered, they were able to walk a different line. Every aspect held my interest, from the content to the artful photography, the powerful design to the experimental typography, even the blow-in card was worthwhile.

The level of detail was equally as memorable. In one story that nodded to water/bubbles they turned every letter ‘o’ white while the rest of the text remained black. Patterns (either graphic or created by using repetitive photography) became a running thread through some issues and typography was printed on velum to mimic the content in the photograph it was sitting upon. 

I particularly loved how every issue had its own personality yet still felt part of a whole. They felt like an equal combination of being delicate, strong, playful and smart. 

Dance Ink was geared towards a particular audience so simply knowing about it felt like you were in on a special secret. 

SPD: Do you know now who the creatives were? 
KD: The art director was Abbott Miller, then of the multidisciplinary studio Design/Writing/Research.

SPD: How does that inform your creative now? 
KD: That no matter what type of project or its scale, big impact can happen. Try to create some surprises and find moments that make you feel happy. 

Jeff Glendenning, Deputy Design Director at The New York Times

SPD: What year? 
Jeff Glendenning: 1996–2000

SPD: What were you up to? 
JG: Finishing design school. Arriving in NYC as things had been shifting from early and mid 90s grunge fonts, deconstruction and Raygun... 

to a modern minimalism of Prada Sport, Meta type and uniformity.

SPD: What magazine? 
JG: wallpaper*

SPD: What was it that so enthralled you? 
JG: In a way Raygun was a first love as a new member of the graphic design tribe in the mid-90s. It spoke to me as it was the first pub to clearly show that magazine making was something I could actually do with my new passion and major. While I tried my hand at all of it’s stylistic hallmarks, it was really not a fit for my sensibility.

Enter wallpaper*. 

The effect of this magazine was significant for this moment in time and for me personally (as I was getting a POV on the holistic role design can play in life). It was a zeitgeist of sort in the shift from grunge/Raygun to minimalism/wallpaper*. And just as significantly, it showed me the breath design could have on culture at large, as well as one’s life with artifacts and products that we align ourselves too. And facing facts, my OCD was more in line with wallpaper* than Raygun.

(But damn, in a less woke era, it doesn’t hold up for diversity)

At this time I was also a fan of Fabien Baron’s Bazaar. But I was never fully interested in fashion image making, as much as I could appreciate it in moments. However wallpaper* covers had a bit more of a generalist’s art directed and designed concept. They were fashion photographs in one sense but appealed to my appreciation for simple graphic compositions that at its best reminded me of reminded me of Brodovitch and Avedon Bazaar covers of the 50s and 60s. 

The interiors embraced white space, showed restraint and used a grid incredibly well. (Think today’s Monocle in moments)

SPD: Do you know now who the creatives were? 
JG: Tyler Brûlé (editor in chief and chairman of Monocle) was the founder and editor in chief in 1996 until his departure in 2002. Like other star editors that we know and admire (ie, Adam Moss, etc) I get a sense that Tyler is as much a part of the creative vision as the creative team. The rest of the team included Martin Jacobs as CD, Herbert Winkler as art director and Ariel Childs as photo editor.

SPD: How does that inform your creative now? 
JG: So Raygun seemed to have a singular mission of being visually expressive (even at the cost of the written word). However, wallpaper* and the goal in the work I make is that it can be both: visually compelling and a clarity of content and what is being communicated. Think Beatrice Warde’s crystal goblet … but one that is a Tyler Brûlé / Monocle collab with some indie glassmaker. I don’t think design should be invisible, but ‘simple’, minimal design has nowhere to hide and everything must be considered. The proportions, materials and story being told.

Grace Martinez, Art Director at Airbnb Magazine

SPD: What year?
Grace Martinez: 2007-2009 

SPD: What were you up to?
GM: I was a designer at Condé Nast’s Portfolio magazine. 

 SPD: What magazine?
GM: Wired Magazine 

SPD: What was it that so enthralled you?
GM: I loved how conceptual, surprising, graphic, and smart the magazine was. It was really the first time I started looking at Wired (and I think it’s continued to look great!). It showed me how playful design was, in sometimes unexpected ways like the pacing of a story. In addition, the type details were always so impressive. I felt like I could tell how labored over the pages were and I was always in awe! 

SPD: Do you know now who the creatives were?
GM: Scott Dadich and Wyatt Mitchell, Carl De Torres

SPD: How does that inform your creative now?
GM: It reminds me how smart and conceptual design can be, and how gratifying and satisfying it can be when details are really thought through. 

Claudia Rubín, Designer at The New York Times Magazine

SPD: What year?
Claudia Rubín: 2008

SPD: What were you up to?
CR: I was 13 and in the 7th grade. Haha.

SPD: What magazine?
CR: Nylon Magazine.

SPD: What was it that so enthralled you?
CR: At the time, I was completely obsessed with the TV show Gossip Girl and Nylon did a split run with the two main characters. I originally bought both just because I loved the cover stars but ended up loving the magazine and subscribing until I graduated high school. The design was so fun compared to other teen magazines, but still sophisticated. I felt very cool and ~adult~ reading it. Getting it in the mail was the best.

SPD: Do you know now who the creatives were?
CR: I believe Michele Outland was the Art Director there at the time. She doesn't know this but when she told me she used to be the AD there I played it cool on the outside, but fangirled on the inside. It was like, wow. A legend right in front of me. Haha.

SPD: How does that inform your creative now?
CR: While the work I do now is very different from a teen fashion magazine, I will always admire Nylon for being so bold and daring. I learned early on about all the fun you can have with type from that mag. Ah, memories.

Mike McQuade, Designer / Artist at McQuade Inc.

SPD: What year?
Mike McQuade: 2005

SPD: What were you up to?
MM: Just graduated college

SPD: What magazine?
MM: Juxtapoz

SPD: What was it that so enthralled you?
MM: Being introduced to artists outside of the museum world.

SPD: Do you know now who the creatives were?
MM: Honestly I never thought to look. It was all about the content to me.

SPD: How does that inform your creative now?
MM: I guess I try not to put definitions or labels on things, sometimes that can limit creativity.

Alice Alves, Art Director at Fast Company

SPD: What year?
Alice Alves: Early '90s

SPD: What were you up to?
AA: In college

SPD: What magazine?
AA: Harper’s Bazaar

SPD: What was it that so enthralled you?
AA: The iconic photography, sure. But dearest to my heart was the beautiful use of Didot. I would pour so much time into admiring those type pages. How many ways can you arrange letters and still get a unique and fresh layout? I had no money to buy magazines, but I worked at the illustrator David Cowles’ studio, where part of my job was to tear magazines, looking for photographs of celebrities that he used as references when he drew portraits (before the internet days). This gave me access to all the magazines I wanted. I got to save some of those Harpers Bazaars and I’ve carried them with me from apartment to apartment throughout the years. I still have them with me now.

SPD: Do you know now who the creatives were?
AA: Fabien Baron. Everyone knew!…

SPD: How does that inform your creative now?
AA: There was an elegance to those type treatments that I’ve always tried to bring to my work. The play with scale, how the typography interacted and played off the photos, and the restrained use of color still informs my work today. During my years at Vibe, we got to experiment with big type for some years, and I definitely referenced the HBs from that era. One of these days, if I’m ever brave enough to work for a fashion brand, I’ll most certainly be looking at my stack of HBs for inspiration.

Sarah Rozen, Photo Director

Sarah Rozen: It all started out with “Magazines for Fun and Fact,”  an English course that was offered at my high school. I had originally signed up hoping to avoid a  heavy workload but I ended up realizing just how much I loved magazines and the world of information and beauty that they opened up to me.

When I finished college and moved to New York City, I started out working for a photo agency and then for the Time-Life Picture Collection.  I had the rare opportunity to hold and study the photographs of Margaret Bourke-White, Gjon Mili, W. Eugene Smith, and Alfred Eisenstaedt.  I could see how the magazines decided which shots to use and that helped to teach me to be a better photo editor. In some cases, the photographers were still coming in to the 28th floor of the Time Life Building. It was quite a thrill to see icons like Gjon Mili still coming into an office everyday into their 80’s and in some cases 90’s. From the Time Life offices, I kept my eyes on all the Time Inc. titles, as well as all the other great magazines of the 90’s. Eventually, I fell in love for the first time! Entertainment Weekly was launched in 1990.  The first year was a little rough as it was searching for its voice and vision.  But by 1993, it found the sweet spot with wonderful writing from people like Mark Harris and photographers like Dan Winters and Kurt Markus. EW was  making bold choices with photographers and often getting amazing results.  There were new photographers like Stephanie Pfriender and Robert Trachtenberg. Robert’s photo of Jennifer Aniston perfectly captured the absurdity of “the haircut” with both humor and charm. Stephanie’s photo of Antonio Banderas is still the sexiest picture of an already very sexy man.

SPD: What Year:
SR: Around 1993-95

SPD: What were you up to?
SR: I was working at the Time Life Picture Collection and then People Magazine.

SPD: What magazine?
SR: Entertainment Weekly

SPD: What was it that so enthralled you?
SR: I was always an entertainment junkie and loved to read every factoid and learn all the behind-the-scenes info about my favorite films and TV shows. The photos were exciting and fresh, presenting celebs in unexpected ways. PR firms hadn’t yet become so controlling so celebrities were willing, or could be talked into, taking chances.

SPD: Do you know now who the creatives were?
SR: Yes, the photo director and editor were Mary Dunn and Doris Brautigan. Additionally, they had art directors like Robert Newman and John Korpics. I feel I was very lucky to have worked at Entertainment Weekly in the late 1990’s.  

SPD: How does that inform your creative now?
SR: It is surprising how many of the images are classic and timeless to this day. My time at EW helped to teach me the importance of not always taking the safe option with photographers.   Sometimes when you take a chance, the results can be really surprising.

Kate Bubacz, Deputy Photo Director at BuzzFeed News

SPD: What year?
Kate Bubacz: This would have been 2004 or 2005.

SPD: What were you up to?
KB: By high school I was deep into photography and I was SO ready to leave town. I grew up in the Kodak hometown, so there were always cameras in my life, but I wanted adventure and not a desk job. As much as I liked taking pictures of my friends, I wanted to go where "real" stories were, I wanted to travel.

SPD: What magazine?
KB: I remember looking at National Geographic and thinking, those people definitely don't sit at desks. I covered the walls of my bedroom with images pulled from its pages, on all topics. When the science department at school was cleaning out back issues from the 60s and 70s, I brought home dozens of issues and went through them all.

SPD: What was it that so enthralled you?
KB: I loved the emphasis on photographs that told a story, often in a single frame. I loved how enigmatic and cinematic foreign places looked on the page, the captured glamor of the faraway day to day. I loved the double-page spreads, I loved that they would interview the photographers and explain how they got the shots. I found the use of gorgeous light and color and surprising juxtapositions inspiring - they looked so easy and were SO hard to recreate. To this day, I'm in awe of the portraits that looked like film stills or images that capture the poignant soft overlooked moments of life.

SPD: Do you know now who the creatives were?
KB: I want to say that David Griffin was the Director of Photography then or shortly thereafter, and both Sarah Leen and Kurt Mutchler were on the photo editing staff at the time.

SPD: How does that inform your creative now?
KB: Ironically, I now sit at a desk and give directions to people in the field, but some lessons still cross over - wait for good light, focus on detail shots, focus on in-between moments, and always, always, take more photos than you think you need. Looking back at the edits in Nat Geo now, I can see the importance of wide edits and close collaborations between photographers and editors. Some of the magic is in the off-frames, the harder-to-look-at moments, the effort put in when you're supposed to be off the clock. That level of dedication and effort is something I hope to inspire in the photographers that I work with. And luckily, I am also able to run photos full-bleed and interview photographers about their stories.