5 Lessons On Successful Fashion Media Directing from Paperās Mickey Boardman
Early Wednesday morning at St.Brigidās church in San Francisco, hundreds of impeccably dressed students showed up to hear the fashion sermon. This was however not a religious event in the traditional sense but rather a panel hosted by The Academy of Art University where its grad and undergrad students got to learn from the publishing business elites. Walking through the pews were those who worshiped at the altar of fashion and wanted to know the tricks of the trade from Paperās Mickey Boardman and Visionaireās Lars Petersen. The panel was conducted by the Director of Fashion Journalism and Social Media, Stephan Rabimov and lasted approximately an hour during which Mickey Boardman instilled some priceless lessons on the attendees. Boardman, the Editorial Director of Paper Magazine has been with the publication for 23 years during which heās seen it go through a large shift with the rise of social media and the internet. Here are the 5 key takeaways from Boardmanās experience at the top of the game:
Miley Cyrus on the cover of Paper Magazine. Image courtesy of Paper Magazine
1.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Do things that will get attention
First and foremost, the most important thing Boardman noted was that print wasnāt dead. It wonāt die because people will always love holding a magazine and enjoy seeing beautiful images although that doesnāt mean Paper wonāt continue expanding through the online platform either. He knows the importance of shock value and pushing boundaries no matter how big or small. Paper infamously did an issue trying to ābreak the Internetā that provided scandalous images which caught the worldās attention. The content you create has to be a combination of āmemorable plus something that creates hysteriaā which is bound to attract website clicks. When it comes to size or volume, itās more about the quality as Boardman stated that āit has to be something thatās fabulous you can see, digest and share. A picture with a caption is plenty.ā
The old versus the new Paper Magazine covers
2.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Be willing to change
When everybody is doing whatās always been done and not getting the necessary results thatās when you know you need to change. Figure out new strategies to get the attention of the reader whether itās risquĆ© editorials hoping to ābreak the internetā or branded content with Grindr which will be happening in an upcoming issue. āWeāre in a landscape where we have some wonderful opportunities to embrace change and do things that are really different that will get attention, set you apart from other peopleā said Boardman. He recognizes the way that social media and the Internet drive content production so appealing to it will help you stay current. Be willing to innovate and you wonāt be left behind.
Paper Magazine Instagram Account
3.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Customize per medium,
Know your consumer, what they want to see and how they want to see it. According to Boardman, āyou have to approach print from a digital perspective. That works because most people see Paper magazine from the website.ā Understanding the medium allows for you to tailor content to it and knowing your audience lets you know how to cater to them as well. āWe donāt think of ourselves as a magazine, weāre content producers. We think about something differently when producing for Instagram and we do the same when we think about doing the magazine and the way we think about the website.ā Although itās a lot of work, itās necessary to be aware that not all platforms are the same so donāt treat them that way.
A video posted by Vogue (@voguemagazine) on May 3, 2016 at 12:37am PDT
The Olsen twins by Gordon Von Steiner. Image courtesy Vogue Magazine
4.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Fabulous + Shareable = Success
A word that Boardman used generously was āfabulousā and he made sure you knew that itās what you have to always strive for no matter the cost, āyou have to go there and try to do something fabulous.ā New content thatās done in a quick, accessible way is a winning combination. For Boardman, itās important to show something that youāve never seen before and wonāt get anywhere else. āI donāt care about seeing something Behind the Scenes, I could care less about it. I want to see the Olsen twins dancing with neon tubes. I could watch that all day,ā in reference to Gordon Von Steinerās video portraits of celebrities at the Met Gala this year. When content is inherently fabulous and easy to share, then itās success.
A retweet from Mickey Boardmanās Twitter account
5.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Raccoon videos are good for the soul
When it comes to dealing with the high stress and pressures of the jobs demands, itās important to have a sense of humor and figure out ways of dealing that work for you. For Mickey itās all about videos of raccoons eating cat food āIf I donāt see at least one raccoon video a day, I will dieā joked Boardman when discussing the immediacy and accessibility of the internet. When the topic of self-care came up and how he deals with the constant strain he joked that he cried while making overly dramatic hand gestures. In reality he acknowledged the importance of self-care in whatever matter that is whether itās meditation or running, do what works.Ā