Good Magazine
Good is for people who give a damn. It's an entertaining magazine about things that matter.
West Hollywood, USA
9155 W Sunset Blvd., 90069
Email: zach@goodmagazine.com
- Category: Entertainment, Food, Health, Travel
- Periodicity: Every two months
- Language: English
- Format: 210 x 275 mm
- Circulation: 65,000
- Price: $ 5.95
- Web: http://www.goodmagazine.com
Founded in 2006
Exclusive Interview
Good
What is your magazine about?
GOOD is an entertaining magazine about things that matter for people who give a damn.
Who’s behind the project? Tell us about the founders, their backgrounds and their motivations!
Ben Goldhirsh founded the company in 2005 (he was 26) with a group of friends who were as committed as he was to filling the gap in media between publications about significant world events and publications that are fun to read and inspire people.
How do you produce one issue? How much time do you spend on it? How big is your team?
Our small staff--about five people, give or take--works steadily on issues for about two months at a time, with longer-term planning happening a couple times a year and periods of intense productivity surrounding each issue close.
What have been the important steps in the life of your magazine?
Being nominated for two National Magazine Awards in our first year of eligibility was a nice validation that our concept was viable, and people were ready for it.
Which are the key ingredients for the success of your magazine?
Passion for potential mixed with fierce pragmatism. Also, this global moment in which we find ourselves, where people are collectively ready to affect change in the world, but aren't quite sure how to do it. We're trying to help.
What are the difficulties you are confronted with? What would be “the” thing to help the magazine to improve?
The hardest thing for us right now is figuring out the relationship between our print efforts and our digital ones, especially as it related to the needs of our readers.
Where do you want the magazine to be in five years?
We want to be thought of analogously to this moment in culture, something essential for this generation in this moment.
Tell us about your audience! Who are the readers of your magazine?
GOOD’s readers have been raised by the benefits of capitalism and now they’re interested in making the market work better for more people and the environment. They like money, but want to put it to good use. They are hungry for news, but suspicious of their sources of information. They are discriminating, conscious consumers who actively seek out quality, invention, and responsibility in the products they purchase and the companies behind them. They are social metropolitans who are not defined by what they do, but by how and why they do it.
Is remaining independent important to you? Is it part of the strategy?
Yes, we're proud of independence and the integrity it affords us.
What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?
There's a high wall between the editorial and business sides of our operations, but we're interested in exploring ways to take advantage of the resources advertisers have at their disposal in service of new products that have actual value for our readers. We don't really know what that means yet.
What do you think of your issue 01, when you look back at it?
It still holds up, for the most part. It's the purest distillation of our idealism and concept, though a bit rough around the edges. We had a year to work on it before we launched, and it shows in the composition of stories.
Magazine favorite(s) that inspired you in your career.
Colors, Spy, early Esquire, The New Yorker, modern New York, old Life, Mad, New York Times Magazine, early Wired, Might, Highlights, The Whole Earth Catalog, Brill's Content.
Do you keep old copies of magazines? If so, what is your favorite in your collection?
We have the first 13 issues of Colors in our office, when it was still being run by Tibor Kalman. We also have some Harold Hayes/George Lois Esquires, which we're quite fond of.
How many magazines do you buy / get / read each month? Do you qualify yourself a maniac?
I subscribe to around 20, so I think I'm close to maniac status.
We are compiling answers from some of the most innovative magazine makers around the world today. Who else should we ask?
What does the future of print look like?
Answered by Zach Frechette (Editor in Chief )
Magazine: GOOD
Email: zach@goodmagazine.com
Date: 15-11-2008
Staff
Editor in chief: Zach Frechette...
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