Acclaim
Acclaim
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Tom Connellan: tom@acclaimmag.com
Street Lifestyle Magazine
Each issue includes content on: fashion, sneakers, music, cars, contemporary art and design, video games, books, film, social issues, sport and anything else that’s relevant to street culture and lifestyle. From 2009 all of our covers are created in collaboration with different artists, designers or photographers from around the world. Collaborators so far include Estevan Oriol, INSA and Dalek.
Albert Park, Australia
9, Dundas Lane, VIC 3206
Email: news@acclaimmag.com
- Category: Cinema, Computer, Erotic, Fashion, Graffiti, Lifestyle, Literature, Music, Sport, Other
- Periodicity: Quarterly
- Language: English
- Format: 210 x 275 mm
- Circulation: 30,000
- Price: AU$ 9.95
- Web: http://www.acclaimmag.com
Founded in 2005
Exclusive Interview
ACCLAIM Magazine
What is your magazine about?
ACCLAIM is about street culture and lifestyle. This is a broad description that allows us a certain level of flexibility with our content. We do cover a lot of streetwear fashion; contemporary art; music; sports; social issues; film and sneakers each issue but we're not limited by these categories and will also cover many other things that are interesting and relevant.
Who’s behind the project? Tell us about the founders, their backgrounds and their motivations!
I'm the founder of ACCLAIM Mag and it was a project that came about after six years of publishing a free hip-hop magazine called Out4Fame. ACCLAIM was the natural progression for me into something less constrained by genre and of a higher, collectible quality. It was started with the financial backing of Matt Gudinski from The Mushroom Group/Illusive Entertainment and about a year into ACCLAIM we recruited two French guys- Pierre Henny and Gael Deryck aka Mega to give the magazine a new direction. I have to give strong credit to this duo for successfully reinventing ACCLAIM and giving it a more modern and international appeal. They have both since moved on to other things.
In more recent times our new sub-Editor, Alexandra Weiland has been responsible for much of the content in the past four issues and is a godsend!
I think all involved are motivated by a genuine passion for the content and a desire to see ACCLAIM grow and prosper.
How do you produce one issue? How much time do you spend on it? How big is your team?
We have a small team of 4 key people with several excellent freelancers making up the rest of our work force. We usually spend around 6 to 8 weeks on each issue and it is always a mammoth effort. We never print content that is not our own, all of the concepts and ideas are developed through creative brainstorming sessions before articles are assigned. We have several regular features that are always handled by the same people and we try to give the writers in charge of those sections creative freedom to develop their own ideas.
What have been the important steps in the life of your magazine?
Realising the importance of an international content and presence for the magazine was a big step in the right direction for us.
Which are the key ingredients for the success of your magazine?
Honesty. Hard Work. Perseverence. The right people being involved.
What are the difficulties you are confronted with? What would be “the” thing to help the magazine to improve?
We see a strong interest and opportunity for ACCLAIM in overseas regions. The problem is that being so geographically isolated from the rest of the world, the cost of shipping our magazines to foreign distributors is very expensive and makes export a very risky investment.
I think the thing to help us improve would probably be greater cash flow, which I'm sure is the main problem facing most smaller businesses in the world. It is harder to grow and develop the brand when you dont have a ready supply of new funds to invest back into the business.
Where do you want the magazine to be in five years?
Fortune 500!!
Tell us about your audience! Who are the readers of your magazine?
Our readers range from kids looking to gain basic knowledge of the street culture movement through to the more savvy trend-setters. In more recent times our audience has expanded internationally to include significant readership in key Asian countries.
Is remaining independent important to you? Is it part of the strategy?
Yeah for now it is definitely important but if the right company came along talking merger I would definitely consider it. I dont think that working with big companies and corporations is always a negative. It comes down to maintaining a certain level of control over the product. I dont think any corporation that wanted to invest in ACCLAIM would do so unless they understood the importance of maintaining credibility and a connection to our audience. If they wanted a publication that had a more mainstream appeal it would probably make more sense to create a new mag rather than evolve our baby into something else completely.
What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?
Advertising does influence our content to a degree but we're very careful not to find ourselves in a situation where advertisers are calling the shots. We tend to work with brands that we actually like and are happy to be associated with so it's not a stretch to come up with relevant editorial. On the rare occassion when an advertiser suggests something totally wrong for us we just have to be honest but tactful about it and try to steer their idea into a more suitable direction. At the end of the day, corny, obviously contrived advertorial is easy to spot and doesnt do any favours for us or the advertiser.
What do you think of your issue 01, when you look back at it?
I wish I had approached it differently and done many things differently. Having said that, there are some great interviews in there including some of my own personal favourite work as a journalist.
Magazine favorite(s) that inspired you in your career.
The Source (pre 2000). Complex. Mass Appeal. Sneaker Freaker.
Do you keep old copies of magazines? If so, what is your favorite in your collection?
Yes I do. I have a collection of Source Magazines from 1993-1998 of which I couldnt pick a favourite.
How many magazines do you buy / get / read each month? Do you qualify yourself a maniac?
Probably around 4 magazines per month but some of these are in order to keep an eye on the competition and to investigate new advertising possibilities. I wouldnt qualify myself as a magazine maniac.
We are compiling answers from some of the most innovative magazine makers around the world today. Who else should we ask?
Tee World.
Answered by Andrew Montell (Editor In Chief/ Director)
Magazine: ACCLAIM Magazine
Email: andrew@acclaimmag.com
Date: 14-01-2009
Staff
Editor in chief and Publisher: Andrew Montell...contact
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