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Incorporating video and playlists alongside traditional photo ads and celebrity interviews within a digital format, 71 Magazine calls itself “more an experience than a publication.” “Synesthesia – Light+Sound” Issue 7 won a 2024 Award of Excellence in Print Content- Magazine. Read on to see Creative Director Mike Brannon explain his immersive approach to art direction and why he purposefully disregards trends to connect his audience to “the arts less traveled.”
How does 71 Magazine keep a clear creative vision cover to cover?
We had a very strong vision from the beginning in 2017, which was a driving factor to even starting the venture of 71’s unique coverage of international arts and entertainment. Among the values we adhere to include being female forward, by creatives for creatives, bringing ‘the arts less traveled’ and specifically not following anyone else/disregarding trends altogether, as those that follow others get lost in the noise and aren’t seen as anything original or worth a reader’s time. If you get the feeling you’ve seen it before and might not even read the features.
For the cover story “Dream Weaver”, how was the interview with photographer Ben Cope?
“Dream Weaver” was actually the issue (issue 40/May 2024) w/ Marlo Kelly of Netflix’ ‘3 Body Problem’ a few issues after Jenna Ortega’s issue. Ben was Jenna’s photographer (for issue 38/Jan 2024) . I interviewed him via email as he was literally in the process of moving from LA to Saudi Arabia last December and was wrapping shoots in LA and had to start shooting as soon as he arrived. We were fortunate to get his materials, especially at the holidays. he’d also shot Monaca Barbaro, Michelle Monahan and David Lynch. We’re very proud of that issue. There tends to be a few issues per year that really stand out and seem more likely to win awards.
What was one of the biggest obstacles assembling the issue?
One general issue applies to every issue, in that the team is essentially 3 people and I’m the only full-timer. Every issue has its manic phase as it gets close to content close. We publish every 60 days/6 x a year. This issue had the added stress of our cover star’s photographer moving to another continent during the email interview and it was all happening right before Christmas. We sometimes have a backup cover but not this time, so there was a lot of finger crossing and prayers. At times it didn’t seem like it was going to happen and almost no one that high in the arts/entertainment world is likely to be available over the holidays. It all sort of shuts down til the new year. But we had to get it out for early January. In over 7 years we have never missed an issue.
How did “Synesthesia – Light+Sound” Issue 7 contribute to 71 Magazine’s mission?
It was a great issue for us, but represents the goal from the beginning: have a female cover star who needs no introduction, stunning full page/dual page editorial layouts, embedded video to support the features, links/backlinks to relevant aspects of the features and previous relevant features we’ve done and original Spotify playlists highlighting relevant music to the issue’s theme: Light+Sound/Synesthesia – a sensual journey/cross-pollination.
The Communicator Awards is celebrating connection across all forms of communication. How did you approach connecting with the 71 Magazine readers in this issue? Was there a story that was particularly impactful?
It seems that readers really liked the issue, as ‘Wednesday’ is a top series and Jenna is a major creative force in a number of film genres. In typical synesthetic style of any issue, we also covered Warner Bros. Furiosa: Mad Max w/ Anya Taylor-Joy and the 2024 Grammys, in which we had a number of winners we had covered in past issues.
It’s always exciting when we cover international awards events – Grammys/Oscars/Emmys/BAFTA’s/Film festivals -and those we’ve featured previously win big. We’re excited for them and it feels like we’re on the right track with our choices. We like to think in a way we bring readers onboard for inside/BTS looks at major cover shoots, in depth interviews with talent they love, immersive video, audio and links to relevant arts.
For every issue, how do you find what speaks most to the 71 Magazine readers?
The connection with immersive beauty, whether it be spectacular coverage of the northern lights from the Space/Tech issues, or actors, models, photographers, musicians, designers, creators our readers all know or need to know, as creatives themselves. Original shoots we do, with unusual images and video they haven’t seen. That everything is female forward yet still a mix of talent and that it’s clearly by creatives for creatives, especially polymaths. For instance, I started as a musician, became a writer, an art lighting designer, photographer etc. As Creative Director of 71, all of these skills and perspectives are applied to 71 daily.
Are you a creative spotlighting the stories of fellow artists like 71 Magazine? Submit your work by the Early Entry Deadline on Friday, November 8th to receive preferred early pricing.