Kyra Clarke, Threaded Magazine

Kyra Clarke, the founder, lead designer and co- art director at Threaded, is taking her niche creative publication global— and digital. So, 14 issues in, how’s that working out for her?

1 What was the lightning bolt that set you on a path to establish Threaded?

Threaded magazine was conceived in my second year of studying a bachelor of visual communication design after looking for a free avenue of promotion for myself and noticing there was a distinct lack of magazines offering exposure for emerging creatives. Now Threaded is actually a studio of two halves, ranging from client-based design projects to the magazine, our ongoing international curated editorial design project. Over the years, the magazine’s core objective has shifted from being a platform focused on showcasing students’ work, to a vehicle that profiles emerging artists/designers alongside industry-based practitioners in an attempt to bridge that across the creative industries. 2 Media is a tough business these days. What have you had to do to keep publishing? the physical issue, the digital issues and our soon-tobe-released iPad issues.

3 Is your style of magazine better insulated against the march of technology than mainstream publications? Is there still room for beautiful print products?

I believe so. Each issue of Threaded is thematically based. So it has the luxury to almost re-invent itself each time. Threaded has a multi-dimensional audience as it is at the intersection of the creative industries and the educational sector. It is the meeting of these audiences that uniquely positions it. Subject matter, high print production and digital enhancements are all key points of interaction to ensure the diverse audience interest is sparked.

4 A lot of your creatively-minded target market are tech-savvy, early adopters who are moving away from paper. How has the business evolved to recognise that shift?

Our creative audience are iPad users, iPhone users, mostly Mac-based people interested in technology and digital advancements and Threaded wants to be at the forefront of these as they happen. Expanding the digital division has been a two-year investigation/evolution. I gained an Art Venture Scholarship last year, an initiative run by Arts Regional Trust for creative entrepreneurs, which gave me the mentors and focus to really develop this division of the business. With support from Art Venture, the British Council and The BizDojo I was also able to attend London’s design festival in Sept/Oct last year. While in London I established meetings with distributors and industry leaders such as Tony Chambers of Wallpaper* and Tyler Brûlé of Monocle, to name a few. This was an incredibly valuable trip for me as a creative, an independent publisher and director of a creative firm. We are not shifting to digital media entirely for Threaded, simply diversifying by having a presence in both mediums and increasing the studio’s skill-sets and offering of services. We plan to use digital media to expand on and increase our international readership in a sustainable manner, increasing Auckland and New Zealand’s profile, at the same time as creating channels for international avenues of exposure.

‘The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all.’

Our publication is extremely expensive to produce as it imbues a high level of craft focus and production outcomes as an accessible way to disseminate insight into the creative industry. To sustain a high level of production and craft we became 100 percent advertisement-free last year and shifted our model to a cross-promotion platform with partner companies who have aligned values. This gives us growth from a solid foundation. We work closely with our local production partners to select a range of paper products and print techniques that match each edition’s theme, content and design. This allows the craft detail—from paper stock selection, to print and industry innovations—to be extensively explored in each edition. We also offer multi-platform opportunities of exposure/brand alignment through

5 What’s best advice you’ve ever been given?

With no failure possible, every setback is just a setup for success.

“The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all” - Richard Branson.

6 What’s your marketing strategy? And what works best to spread the word and sell copies?

From a survey we conducted in Ed. 12 a large percentage of our audience had ‘stumbled across’ Threaded. We rely on a graphical, thought-provoking cover detailing to evoke the reader/audience to pick it up off the shelf, read, interact and interpret what this edition is about. We don’t employ cover-lines or run advertising campaigns to promote the release of each issue. Instead we keep our loyal readers informed via our quarterly EDMs and connect and interact with our international audiences via social media and our website. 7 What are your plans for the future? And how important is the international market?

We have expanded Threaded’s niche as a knowledge sharing eco-system for the creative industries on a global scale and now distribute around the world for retail sale. The magazine launched globally in 2011, with Ed 11, ‘ The Worldly-wise Cosmopolitan Issue’ conveniently themed to coincide with new opportunities to expand our reach and establish connections to an international target market. For a niche publication having an international position and connection is extremely important from both a sales and marketing perspective as well as being able to increase the calibre of connections in our publication and level of exposure for Auckland-based businesses profiled or involved in Threaded.