Mark Porter

A great pair of talks last night at the new(ish) London Editorial Design Organisation.

First up, Jonathan Hoefler spoke eloquently and wittily about his typography work. But for the magazine freaks, the big attraction was Janet Froelich’s presentation on the incomparable T, the New York Times Style Magazine (you can see some of her slides from a different occasion here). Janet began by emphasising that the essence of magazine work is collaboration, which became a theme throughout the talk; collaboration with her editor Stefano Tonchi; with her contributing photographers and artists; and between the photographers and stylists and their subjects. It was a strong reminder of something that I bore my designers senseless by repeating; being a good Art Director is 5% about ideas and design, and 95% about working successfully with other people.

But there’s more to T than teamwork. To do a magazine this special also takes a lot of talent, an intimate understanding of the worlds of fashion, design and art (Janet describes T’s mission as “curating the world of style”), and — thank god — a sense of humour, otherwise all this glorification of the superficial might become unbearable. It also doesn’t do any harm to have the influence and resources of the Times behind you (during the Q&A I contemplated asking Janet what her photo budget was, but decided not to lower the tone).

A great insight from a great Art Director into one of the most amazing magazines in the mainstream. And hopefully a sign of more good things to come from the EDO; congratulations to Paul, Jeremy, et al for getting it off the ground