In the Editor's Chair - Adriano Sack

I always get excited about the launch of a new magazine. I guess it is the concept of someone's new vision, cool ideas as well as a new magazine design. I came across Ilikemystyle Quarterly while infiltrating my ever so beloved Google Reader and checking out a post on Glowing Doll. Ilikemystyle Quarterly is the world's first user generated magazine, where members are invited to contribute to the publication. Imagine all your favourite posts put together into a glossy and trendy magazine and you soon get the picture. Based in Berlin, Ilikemystyle Quarterly was founded by Adriano Sack and Eva Munz and the first issue hit the streets last month. The ilikemystyle publication is so on point that it has it's own little trailer which was created to promote the launch. I caught up with Adriano to get the lowdown on this cool magazine.

How did you get into journalism?
While I was studying architecture in Hamburg I worked in a very notorious club as a bartender so I guess I was a nightlife person. The local city magazine needed a party reporter and hired me so I left architecture school and never looked back.

Describe the concept of Ilikemystyle Quarterly and the idea behind the name.
ilikemystyle.net is a social network for people interested and obsessed with fashion and who have a healthy appetite for self-exposure. Our users upload pictures, write comments, befriend each other etc. The print magazine, Ilikemystyle Quarterly is based on the website showcasing the diverse talents of our userbase. As far as I know it's the first user generated magazine. The project is called i Like my style because you have to like yourself to be liked by others. Obviously there's is a gentle irony to that name.

The design is very slick, how did you decide on the art design of the publication?
Our art directors Judith Banham and Alexander Wiederin created an unfussy, elegant look with a twist, because we felt the content and the images don't need to be pimped by self-indulgent design.

Who is behind the publication?
A couple of media and fashion people such as digital manager Klaus-Peter Frahm, movie director and writer Eva Munz, fashion designer and critic Martin Cho, philosopher Michael Ladner, cultural critic Emily Segal. And the users of our website.

How many members of staff work on the magazine?
No staff. We're all free radicals.

Describe a day in the life of Adriano Sack.
A prototypical day in New York:
8.17 am: I drink a glass of hot water as recommended by Chinese mothers (it’s good for everything).
8.19 am: I skip yoga to check and write emails instead. To distract myself I click through Spiegel Online, NYT online (including their fashion site The Moment), ilikemystyle.net, some fashion blogs.
9.13 am: I call contributors, advertising clients, our tax consultant, my boyfriend who lives in Berlin, and some best friends and I write some stuff.
1.03 pm: I have lunch with Michael Bullock from Fantastic Man at a vegetarian Japanese noodle place.
2.00 pm: I go to the fashion boutique Opening Ceremony and the St. Mark’s bookstore. I’m so happy that they are carrying our magazine, that I end up not buying anything.
2.58 pm: I discuss stories, layouts and the long overdue redesign of the website with our art director.
7.03 pm: I go to some gallery openings, decide not to go to the movies and have dinner with friends instead.
10.05 pm: whatever.

Which blogs do you check out regularly?
Yours.

What magazines do you read?
Der Spiegel, Pin-Up, Fantastic Man, Vogue (from every country my favourite being French and Russian), and literally every magazine in the world: from the rather heady neo-conservative German Cicero to Spanish Hola to Straight from Hell.

What tips do you have for anyone who wants to become a magazine editor?
Join ilikemystyle.net and become a contributor. In case you want to work for other magazines/newspapers/website: 1. Find a rich wife or husband to support you because only few journalists make good money. 2. Travel the world, learn languages, sleep around, try exotic drugs. There’s nothing worse than journalists that have not experienced pain, beauty, danger and irresponsible fun. 3. Read the classics, old and new ones: from Tolstoi to Truman Capote to Christian Kracht. 4. Write only about things that matter to you. 5. Don’t take yourself too seriously. 6. Most important: Make your contributors shine.

You can check out Ilikemystyle Quarterly here.

Check out the trailer below, it is pretty cool isn't it?