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Dong

Issue 04

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Fashion based magazine with a poetic and alternativ look to fashion.

Fashion Fanzine

Paris, France

30, rue du doc. Potain, 75019

Email: nicole@dongmag.de

Category: Fashion, Photography
Periodicity: Bi-Annual
Language: French / English/ German
Format: 210 x 297 mm
Circulation: 3,000
Price: 9 €
Web: http://www.dongmag.de

Dong is a reflective and humorous magazine,
with an alternative and poetic look to fashion and photography.
Dong wants to inspire,surprise and inform with his
contributions.

Exclusive Interview

"We do what we want to do"

What is your magazine about?
About fashion!

Who’s behind the project? Tell us about the founders, their backgrounds and their motivations!
Axl Jansen, photographer (studied mediadesign and philosophy) and Nicole Hardt, fashion designer (studied fashion design at Vivienne Westwood in Berlin). We both met in Berlin six years ago and started to work together as a photo-styling couple. After some years in the german fashion photo business we were so frustated that we wanted to show something else, than overstyled, sexy girls and cooking recipits... without forgetting to lough about ourselfs and beeing a little critical with the system. So one night we decided (in the beginning we were 4, starstyling and us) to create our own platform and we started to do some guerilla missions... like spying the must haves of the season on berlin walls.

How do you produce one issue? How much time do you spend on it? How big is your team?
The magazine is published every six months. First we collect articles for 4-5 months or work out something with other people and than we start to layout the next 4 weeks, before it goes to the printer (before it was coppied) and then send it to the shops... which means: it is just us two doing the magazine with a lot of contributors and helping hands from friends.

What have been the important steps in the life of your magazine?
The magazine lives since 1,5 years and the most inportant step was when we mooved from berlin to paris.

Which are the key incredients for the success of your magazine?
That we don’t care about anything: no trend, no advertising and work on projects that are very personal and publish young people nobody knows but are very inovative! We are critical and reflected about the system but don´t forget to laugh about ourselfs...

What are the difficulties you are confronted with? What would be “the” thing to help the magazine to improve?
That we don´t have the money to do what we want to do, so there is always a compromise and the difficulties to find good people who want to work for free...

Where do you want the magazine to be in five years?
In all interesting bookshops all over the world

Tell us about your audience! Who are the readers of your magazine?
We don´t know them, but we are always surprised when it is sold out at our shops. And that´s what let us to continue. so it is verry important!

Is remaining independent important to you? Is it part of the strategy?
Yes, it is what we are!

What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?
We never wanted to have advertising in the magazine but now, as the magazine is becoming successfull, we deliver more shops and we definately want to continue … probably advertising would help... but only if we still can do what we want to do without any limitation.

Do you think that magazine readers still need to watch TV?
TV is something else than a magazine. It is not the question if this or that. you can do whatever you want to do. We just love magazines....and sometimes watch tv.

Which is your relationship with your printer? Does he play a main role in your development?
We don´t know yet because it was copied till now and the next issue will be the first one which is printed and for that we find the best guys in the world .....

Which magazines did influence you most? What are you looking for in other magazines?
i-D because it was the first magazine i loved when i was 16 and bought every month... but since we do our own I´m not not so much interested in other magazines any more.

What do you think of your issue 01, when you look back at it?
I still love the first one because it was the starting pioint! But we always try to change something and make steps forward.

What question did you never ask in your magazine but would have liked to?
We do what we want to do.

How many magazines do you buy / get / read each month? Do you qualify yourself a maniac?
Sometimes a lot and then no magazines to keep our head free...... yes, otherwise we would not spend so much time in the magazine!

E-mail interview from “08.03.2006”. © Colophon2007.com – Mike Koedinger Editions SA (Luxembourg)