EGG+
Tapei, Taiwan
7F,#35,Ln177,Sec.1,Duenhua S.Rd.,, 106, R.O.C.
Email: egg@eggmagazine.com
- Category: Architecture, Design, Fashion
- Periodicity: Monthly
- Format: 210 x 280 mm
- Circulation: 50,000
- Web: http://www.eggmagazine.com
Founded in 2003
Exclusive Interview
TV has been and still is the most influential medium in our world today.
What is your magazine about?
Our magazine is about architecture, design, and fashion, packaged to reflect our aesthetically-oriented lifestyles and analyzed from an urban dweller’s point of view.
Who’s behind the project? Tell us about the founders, their backgrounds and their motivations!
Egg+ was founded by Tsang-Wei Hung, an architect who—following his matriculation from London’s Architectural Association—came back to Taiwan to start his own studio. Architecture by itself reaching but a relatively small audience however, he soon decided to go into the publishing business to effect greater change. The magazine was born out of a singular vision: to introduce a multidisciplinary magazine on par with international offerings yet firmly rooted in the issues of Taiwan.
How do you produce one issue? How much time do you spend on it? How big is your team?
As with probably most other magazines, we collate material through both research and tips/information given to us by friends and contacts. We have what we call our own “Egg Family”—a network spanning experts in art, architecture, design, and fashion—that we keep in constant contact with. Given that we are a monthly, we have but a single month to come up with each issue. As for our team size, we currently number about 10 people, of which 3 constitute our marketing department.
What have been the important steps in the life of your magazine?
Introducing Egg Newsletter, a mass-market version of our magazine, in April 2006.
Which are the key ingredients for the success of your magazine?
Our inherent interest in local issues and observations.
What are the difficulties you are confronted with? What would be “the” thing to help the magazine to improve?
To put in simple terms, a society that by-and-large is still quite unconscious of both design and culture does not easily support a magazine dealing with such issues. Whereas in a mature culture the appearance and success of a quality magazine is a given, the same cannot be applied to a country where aesthetics and style are only now beginning to percolate into mass consciousness.
Where do you want the magazine to be in five years?
Have the magazine recognized as the foremost design publication in the greater-China region.
Tell us about your audience! Who are the readers of your magazine?
People with an interest in style, design, and culture; people with an iconoclastic bent who aren’t satisfied with the market’s cookie-cutter offerings.
Is remaining independent important to you? Is it part of the strategy?
Remaining independent is both strategy and necessity. While creative control is obviously an issue, the fact that our audience is (relatively) niche and selective does not complement operating under the directives of a large corporation.
What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?
As an independent operation that doesn’t have the financial backing of a major corporation, we do have to rely on advertisement to survive. Advertorials are both accepted and present in our magazine, though with that said, our content will always remain independent and separate from advertising.
Do you think that magazine readers still need to watch TV?
Yes. TV has been and still is the most influential medium in our world today.
Which is your relationship with your printer? Does he play a main role in your development?
We are partners with our printer. Given the amount and frequency of special cuts and folds in our publication, we routinely collaborate with them to find the most suitable methods to realize our vision.
Which magazines did influence you most? What are you looking for in other magazines?
Wallpaper / Nest / Brutus Casa / Frame
Given our own magazine positioning, we look for other publications that similarly use architecture as a frame for design and fashion. In the same vein, we are also attracted by publications that examine culture and behavior from an urban perspective, an example being the now-defunct Nest.
What do you think of your issue 01, when you look back at it?
As with perhaps a lot of other creative endeavors, our first issue, being a “Big Bang” of sorts for our pent-up ideas, is still one of our favorites. Seeing it physically embody all that we’ve wanted to do was a truly awe-inspiring moment.
How many magazines do you buy / get / read each month? Do you qualify yourself a maniac?
We buy probably up to two dozen titles every month. Given that we are, after all, a publishing company, how can we be anything but maniacs?
E-mail interview from “20.10.2006”. © Colophon2007.com – Mike Koedinger Editions SA (Luxembourg)
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