Wellington, May 29 (JY&A Media) The first print edition of Lucire seems to be following in the footsteps of its famous web edition: by winning an award on its first outing.
Just within the cut-off date for this year’s Pride in Print Awards, Lucire’s November 2004 issue was given a ‘highly commended’ accolade by the judges last week.
Lucire’s original publishing firm prior to being spun off as a separate company, JY&A Media, was incorrectly attributed, but otherwise the company is delighted that it had made an impact in printing.
‘We thank the staffs of Format and McCollams,’ said publisher Jack Yan, who selected the Blue Star print group companies when taking Lucire into a print format. It was the first time anyone in the world had taken a web fashion title into print.
‘Darren Comrie and Peter Hartley at Format really looked after us. When the Format plant had a fire in 2004, the company actioned its emergency plan.
‘This meant that I could still deal with Darren and Peter in Wellington, visiting Blue Star sister companies.’ Printing was shifted to McCollams for the first issue but as far as Mr Yan was concerned, the change was nearly seamless.
‘When it came to the press passes, Format flew me to McCollams and put me up in a hotel,’ he says.
‘McCollams itself was generous in allowing my staff and even one of my clients’ art directors to come by, as well as a network TV crew—all on my first day there!’
Mr Yan believes that if the judges were impressed with the November 2004 number, he says that they will be spoiled for choice with Lucire’s 2005 editions.
‘Since Format got back up and running, I’m even more impressed with their new Heidelberg press. In addition, the Spekta screening is top-notch, as is the colour accuracy of the proofs.
‘Plus it’s comforting to know that while I am working away at 4 a.m. with no sleep, someone at Format is actually still there.’
He points out that Lucire is likely to be a shoo-in in more than the offset printing categories in 2005-6.
‘This is the only major national magazine that has its own typefaces, designed in New Zealand specifically for it,’ he said. ‘I’m sure the judges would appreciate our unprecedented support of New Zealand typeface design community.
‘Even in terms of design we are charting our own course. We are not interested in creating a derivative of American and British fashion magazines, unlike our competitors who insist on using foreign typefaces,’ he says.
Lucire’s latest accolade follows on from a nomination in the Wellington Region Gold Awards.
In 1997, Lucire’s web edition was named New Zealand’s Site of the Day (SODA), on its first day of publication, partly through its use of clever design techniques.
A Webby Award nomination came in 2003, making Lucire the second New Zealand web site ever to receive one.
Strangely, despite its pioneering status and international reputation—Lucire still holds number two in Google for the search fashion magazine—it made it into the New Zealand NetGuide Top 500 only once.
A Romanian edition was launched in mid-May 2005, making Lucire the first web site in the world to spin off print editions in two countries.
Images
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About Lucire
Lucire, the global fashion magazine (), is one of the world’s leading fashion titles online. Founded in 1997, it covers fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle, with a global perspective for today’s woman. It is known for providing in-depth, quality journalism. The magazine is targeted at the woman who is tired of the offerings from established fashion players, and chooses to be herself.
In 2003, Lucire received a Webby Award nomination—the only New Zealand site to do so that year—and became the first fashion industry partner of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, ). It was Official Internet Partner of L’Oréal New Zealand Fashion Week for 2002–3, and a media sponsor of the inaugural San Francisco Fashion Week and Official Media Partner of Stockholm FashionDays for 2004–5. It is official media partner of Fashion Week of the Americas in 2005. A print edition launched in the New Zealand market in October 2004—the first time a fashion magazine went from online to print—and launched in Romania in May 2005.
According to Alexa, Lucire was one of the top-ranked pure-play fashion titles in the world before embarking into print. It remains one of the top fashion sites globally, ranking second in Google for fashion magazine.
