5 Lessons On Successful Fashion Media Directing from Paperâs Mickey Boardman
Early Wednesday morning at St.Brigidâs 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 Paperâs Mickey Boardman and Visionaireâs 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 heâs seen it go through a large shift with the rise of social media and the internet. Here are the 5 key takeaways from Boardmanâs experience at the top of the game:
Miley Cyrus on the cover of Paper Magazine. Image courtesy of Paper Magazine
1.     Do things that will get attention
First and foremost, the most important thing Boardman noted was that print wasnât dead. It wonât die because people will always love holding a magazine and enjoy seeing beautiful images although that doesnât mean Paper wonât 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 âbreak the Internetâ that provided scandalous images which caught the worldâs attention. The content you create has to be a combination of âmemorable plus something that creates hysteriaâ which is bound to attract website clicks. When it comes to size or volume, itâs more about the quality as Boardman stated that âit has to be something thatâs fabulous you can see, digest and share. A picture with a caption is plenty.â
The old versus the new Paper Magazine covers
2.     Be willing to change
When everybody is doing whatâs always been done and not getting the necessary results thatâs when you know you need to change. Figure out new strategies to get the attention of the reader whether itâs risquĂŠ editorials hoping to âbreak the internetâ or branded content with Grindr which will be happening in an upcoming issue. âWeâre 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 peopleâ 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 wonât be left behind.
Paper Magazine Instagram Account
3.     Customize per medium,
Know your consumer, what they want to see and how they want to see it. According to Boardman, âyou have to approach print from a digital perspective. That works because most people see Paper magazine from the website.â 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. âWe donât think of ourselves as a magazine, weâre 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.â Although itâs a lot of work, itâs necessary to be aware that not all platforms are the same so donât treat them that way.
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The Olsen twins by Gordon Von Steiner. Image courtesy Vogue Magazine
4.     Fabulous + Shareable = Success
A word that Boardman used generously was âfabulousâ and he made sure you knew that itâs what you have to always strive for no matter the cost, âyou have to go there and try to do something fabulous.â New content thatâs done in a quick, accessible way is a winning combination. For Boardman, itâs important to show something that youâve never seen before and wonât get anywhere else. âI donât 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,â in reference to Gordon Von Steinerâs video portraits of celebrities at the Met Gala this year. When content is inherently fabulous and easy to share, then itâs success.
A retweet from Mickey Boardmanâs Twitter account
5.     Raccoon videos are good for the soul
When it comes to dealing with the high stress and pressures of the jobs demands, itâs important to have a sense of humor and figure out ways of dealing that work for you. For Mickey itâs all about videos of raccoons eating cat food âIf I donât see at least one raccoon video a day, I will dieâ 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 itâs meditation or running, do what works.Â