Territory
International Designers Territory
Territory is a design magazine that features various designers at their creative best.
Singapore, Singapore
231 Bain Street, #04-19 Bras Basah Complex, 180231
Email: juan@bigbrosworkshop.com
- Category: Graphic Design
- Periodicity: Quarterly
- Language: English
- Format: 241 x 292 mm
- Circulation: 24,000
- Price: 18 €
- Web: http://www.bigbrosworkshop.com
Founded in 2003
The digital age has brought a revolution to designers all over the world. No longer confined to any particular media, the designers of today have let loose their creative juices and conceptualised designs that are mind blowing and refreshing. However, the most important message these designs convey is still the ability to involve the viewer. It is becoming increasingly important to ‘connect’ to the masses via the digital medium as we are bombarded with information on a daily basis.
With the wealth of information, technology and designs out there, designers are now carving their very own identity, so to speak. Each individual designer has their own area of expertise, something they hold close to their heart, their very own territory. As we ‘invade’ these designers’ territories, we begin to understand their ideas, opinions and the message they are conveying. This collaboration work aims to open up more territories among the designing world where the ultimate aim is for designers to showcase their potential to the world. By bringing designers from all over the world, we are bridging the physical world and fostering a close knit digital territory, where all stands equal.
Exclusive Interview
The key ingredients are patience, and tackling problems and issues one step at a time.
What is your magazine about?
Territory is a theme-based magazine and focuses mainly on design and art. We cater to both established and young upcoming designers that show a lot of potential in establishing themselves globally. Despite being a magazine, Territory has the characteristics of a book as well, so we sometimes describe it as some sort of "bookazine". It's essentially a magazine that comes in book form that readers can use as a source of reference or as an item to be collected.
Who’s behind the project? Tell us about the founders, their backgrounds and their motivations!
Sijuan founded Territory Magazine. Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sijuan has been involved in graphic design for over 12 years, working in the industry as well as a lecturer at local design schools. Territory was co-founded with a Singapore-based publisher and was aimed squarely at showcasing local design talent to an international audience. Sijuan's sole aim was to bring the standards of Malaysian design to be on par with other countries. This may seem like a daunting task but at Territory, we have a tagline that we're particularly fond of, "The impossible can be done, but miracles take a bit longer."
How do you produce one issue? How much time do you spend on it? How big is your team?
We start our research by browsing the Internet, looking at other magazines and books for the latest design trends and issues. Once we determine what's the "in" thing in design, the next theme for Territory takes form. It usually takes about 2 to 3 months to produce one issue. Currently, our team consists of 10 people.
Sijuan- Creative Director & Founder
Chris Wong- Art Director
CK Loo- Interactive Director
Susuasli- Editor
Shane Brazier- Writer
Adrin- Writer
Nasser- Publisher
Representives
Kieth Soo- New Zealand
Angelo – Italy
Hide Yamanouchi – Japan
What have been the important steps in the life of your magazine?
To create better awareness of Malaysian design talent globally
Which are the key ingredients for the success of your magazine?
The key ingredients are patience, and tackling problems and issues one step at a time.
What are the difficulties you are confronted with? What would be “the” thing to help the magazine to improve?
We notice communication within the editorial team is very important when it comes to improving a magazine's quality. When team members slack in communicating ideas with one another, it is very likely that the magazine's quality will suffer.
Where do you want the magazine to be in five years?
We hope to have Territory published and circulated in countries that lack design magazines.
Tell us about your audience! Who are the readers of your magazine?
60% students
25% Young Designers
15% Professionals
Is remaining independent important to you? Is it part of the strategy?
As a new magazine, Territory relies on investors for financial aid. This has been the case since we first started out. However, we are determined to carry on independently should we lose support from our investors.
What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?
We are more biased towards an editorial-driven-advertising strategy. We usually have the ads framed around the content. This means content gets the higher priority. Although we strongly believe advertising to be a good source of revenue, we are also determined to maintain the quality of every issue of Territory.
Do you think that magazine readers still need to watch TV?
It would be unfair to compare both mediums together. Of course we still need to watch TV. Content in a magazine is presented in a very static way that's very different from what you see on TV.
Which is your relationship with your printer? Does he play a main role in your development?
We have a very close relationship with our printer. And yes, our printer plays a very important role in the publishing of every issue of Territory. It's important that they get every thing right, just as how we want things to be.
Which magazines did influence you most? What are you looking for in other magazines?
We tend to read design magazines that have a lot of articles and discussions on design and issues related to the world of design. There are just too many to list out here as each magazine has its very own style.
What do you think of your issue 01, when you look back at it?
Whenever we look back at issue 01, we realize how far we have come since the day we first started. It brings back a lot of memories.
What question did you never ask in your magazine but would have liked to?
We would like to have an issue of Territory that makes use of different types of printing material, different types of paper but we realized that the cost of producing such an issue would be too high. So we just dropped the idea.
How many magazines do you buy / get / read each month? Do you qualify yourself a maniac?
I wish I could be categorized as a magazine maniac but I only read 3 to 5 magazines every month, and that depends on whether the content is interesting.
E-mail interview from “10.10.2006”. © Colophon2007.com – Mike Koedinger Editions SA (Luxembourg)
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