Tyler Brûlé’s latest blog post reads like a warped passage from William Gibson’s ”Pattern Recognition”: Observed details from a jogging trip around Tokyo, places to visit and other recommended indulgences for the wealthy traveller. As the founder of both Wallpaper* and Monocle it’s his job to be the authority on cosmopolitan lifestyle and where to practice it. Judging from magazine sales and personal itineraries, he’s good at what he does.
The print ventures of Brûlé have however received as much praise for their innovative layout and modern journalism as they have scorn for their snobbish outlook. The controversial publisher has himself received both the British Society of Magazine Editors’ Lifetime Achievement Award (2001) and a listing among London’s most annoying residents (Time Out, 2008.)
Hate him or hug him, Tyler Brûlé should be respected as an active spokesperson for the resurgence of print media. While it’s true that many magazines and newspapers have made obituary headlines over the last decade, Tyler Brûlé has shown that it’s indeed possible to survive the maelstrom of digital content by transforming commodity news into customer experience:
Monocle is such a treat to hold in your hands that you almost forget the price-tag (once through Danish taxes it’s the equivalent of 30 USD) and the fact that issues arrive bubble wrapped continue to tempt my soft spot for subscriptions. How lavishly industrial.
It came more or less as a surprise today when the most read, free newspaper in Denmark was declared bankrupt. The reason seems to be financial matters, so it’s maybe unlikely that Brûlé’s sense-of-print could have saved Nyhedsavisen, had he been consulted. But for future reference his take on great newspaper ingredients can be found in this Monocle article, reprinted in The Independent online.
Spoiler alert: It’s smart thinking that makes the difference.
Tyler Brûlé will be on-stage at New Media Days 08 giving us a word of print media advice. I will be in the audience. Bubble wrapped in excitement.
More Brûlé?
Tyler’s ”Fast Lane” column in the Financial Times
Thorough account of how the Monocle website was designed [tak, Morten Gade]
Video: Brûlé at the Lead Awards Symposium 2008