Winkreative

Most of you are quite familiar with Monocle and it's Editor in Cheif, Tyler Brule. But he actually does a lot more than the magazine and it's subsidary actives like product design, pod-casts and conferences. He also owns a design/art direction/branding agency by the name of Winkreative. The studio has done work for a couple air lines, stationary brands, Tretorn footwear, BMW and several other pretty nice clients. Their work is extremely classic looking with a very Monocle feel. I find the design to be right up the alley of things I like to look at. I am more a fan of Monocle for their intricate design aspects, layouts and photography spreads than the majority of the content, and those characteristics often translate into the agency's work. Tyler Brule's business model is definitely something to look up to. He seems to have had a pretty inspiring vision of what he could do and actually make some money along the way, something that isn't easily accomplished. Some of my favorite work is the custom publishing for Porter, SWISS and the Centurion Compact.

Comments

[David]

"I am more a fan of Monocle for their intricate design aspects, layouts and photography spreads than the majority of the content..."

Exactly how I felt about Brule's first child, Wallpaper* magazine. Both that and Monocle had that feeling of style winning over substance.

I often wondered while reading either magazine, does their ideal reader even exist? The mid-30s uber-rich exec who stays only at 5-star hotels, has an enormous expense account and access to a private jet? Aside from Brule himself that is?

[M]

I love Brule's design sensibility. Pretty much everything he touches is perfect.

[admin]

I would have a hard time believing there was an ideal reader who is interested in all aspects of the magazines content as well. I think the scope is just to wide and probably beyond most peoples capacity.
I do really appreciate the way they have more of a reporter feel to the journalists and of course the way it's presented is beautiful.

I think the content is often fairly interesting but I think it needs to be varied to pull in a bigger readership than a more focused magazine on say, just travel, or just fashion. I think this way a lot more people can appreciate it, and of course I do believe Mr. Brule is interested in all of these topics.
Unfortunately it doesn't appear that great taste usually transcends from food, to products, to fashion, to hotels, to travel, to politics for people - which is odd, but also I think alienates some readers who just have no idea.

[Big Kid]

The genius of Monocle is that Tyler found a hole in the market for a globally connected and like minded consumer that luxury retailers covet. His niche has allowed them to carve out a unique publishing product that is different than anything in the market. In these days and times it's not about being the largest, it's about being the most differentiated, that way you can scale up and still keep some level of brand integrity. It will be interesting to see how Monocle and their associated media/product offering evolve in the near term.