Marcus Fairs - Editor of Dezeen
Images: Marcus Fairs
Marcus Fairs is the current editor of Dezeen, former editor of the Icon Magazine and the author of the book “Twenty-First Century Design”. He is a person with a keen eye for design and architecture. Especially for the readers of deZona he reveals his personal and professional view on the design, architecture and their relations with the medias.
“There's nothing new you can do with a magazine, but blogs and websites are only just beginning to explore what is possible.”
You are a furniture design graduate. Why and how did you choose to become a journalist, not a designer?
I was always much better at writing than designing! I didn't have the patience to make things and liked the way I could express ideas on paper much more quickly.
Where your interest in design comes from?
I don't know really. Physical objects always fascinated me; I always felt a strong emotional connection to them. I am quite easily affectable by beautiful things (and ugly things too)! But I am interested in many things, not just design.
You are a former founder editor of Icon Magazine. Do you have something to reveal about the feeling to be in the lead of one of the greatest magazines all over the world?
At the time it felt like a lot of hard work! It was very exciting though as well and we had a lot of fun.
Do you like the nowadays content of Icon Magazine?
It's still quite good I think, although I don't really look at it much. Now I am too busy on the Internet to look at paper magazines!
What was the real reason for you to leave Icon?
I was fired! My bosses were angry about my book. They thought it was bad for the magazine. But they are pretty stupid people and they did me a favour by firing me, because it's much better working for myself.
Now you are the editor of Dezeen. What provoke you to create it? What was the most difficult thing?
For a long time I was looking for an Internet news source on architecture and design, but I couldn't find one that I liked. So I decided to do it myself! Also when I left Icon I didn't have the money to launch my own paper magazine, and I saw how difficult it was to launch a new magazine. I thought it might be easier on the Internet. It was actually quite easy to do and I really enjoy it. The most difficult thing was finding good web designers to work on the site, but in the end I found some brilliant people.
Will the Internet blogs replace the printed magazines?
No, but the Internet is where all the interesting activity is now. There's nothing new you can do with a magazine but blogs and websites are only just beginning to explore what is possible. A lot of magazines will struggle to survive when advertisers start moving to the Internet. I think they will have to become more like books.
What are the advantages writing in the web? Any disadvantages?
Speed, speed, speed! Can't think of any disadvantages - yet.
What makes Dezeen unique, influential and one of the most popular design blogs on the web?
Hmm, I think Dezeen makes design stories look beautiful - that's very important… I choose to publish things I like, or that I think readers will like. Although sometimes I publish things just to get a reaction - I get a lot of comments on Dezeen, both positive and negative. I like to take the readers in new directions.
Is there any design-blogs, web-sites or printed magazines you enjoy reading?
I look at loads of other blogs and sites all the time, but the only one I look at regularly is dezain.net. It tells you what all the other sites are doing. I like browsing on the Internet, following my nose, rather than returning to familiar sites all the time.
What do you think about MocoLoco, Designboom, Yanko Design? Is there a competition between you?
Actually we are more like collaborators than competitors. It's very different to paper publishing, where all the other titles are your enemy! If I get a good story, the other blogs will put links up and vice versa. That's really refreshing.
Do you think about print version of Dezeen?
I'm definitely looking at doing print publications with Dezeen, but maybe books rather than magazines. Magazines are too expensive and too slow, and there are too many of them already. I'm not sure I could do anything better in that area now.
You are the author of the book “Twenty-First Century Design”. What exactly inspired you to write this book?
It was a chance to explore the way design was changing at the start of the new century. I felt that many people - including many architects and designers - were still stuck in a 20th century mindset, blindly following the Modernist rules. This was a chance to show the incredible range of new ways of thinking coming out of designers - for example the return to decoration, conceptualism, the merging of art and design - and to start to think about why this was happening.
How do you define the contemporary design?
I think design is a discipline centred on the creation of useful objects. But the definition of "useful" is changing fast - objects that make you smile, think, or even cry are just as useful as things that are merely functional.
The rejection of Modernism is, I think, one of the key characteristics of contemporary design. That is, objects that disobey rules like "Less is more", "Ornament is a crime", "A house is a machine for living in" etc. So it is not enough for something to be purely functional; today people want things to be beautiful, mysterious, paradoxical, emotional...
Which are the brightest names of the design of today? What is the key for their success according to you? Describe each of them with one word.
Marcel Wanders - superstar. Marcel creates a personal fantasy world through his designs.
Studio Job () - surreal. Their pieces are riddles that only they understand.
Jasper Morrison - humble. Jasper is the opposite of the design trends I talked about above - he proves how hard it is to do minimalism properly.
How a designer turns into a star?
The media decides that!
Which is the architect that has drawn your attention the most within the last decade?
Too many to name - Zaha Hadid is probably the most important architect at the moment.
Who is the designer or architect you adore the most to spend time with? Tell us an interesting story from your acquaintance.
I like a lot of designers; they tend to be good fun to be with. I see them at all the design shows and have some funny adventures! For example, singing Karaoke with Tom Dixon and the girls from Front in Tokyo a couple of years ago… That kind of thing!
Who is the designer or architect you admire but you still didn’t get the chance to meet?
I have met most of them - it would be good to meet Oscar Niemeyer.
In the times of globalisation can we talk about national features in design?
Globalisation will lead to more demand for local features, rather than less. Maybe not national, but micro-identities such as regions, cities, even villages. They can all be unique.
Which are the 3 objects of today that you would take with in a time capsule?
An incandescent light bulb - it makes me very sad that they may soon be banned on ecological grounds, as the light they produce is beautiful. Also a laptop and a mobile phone - I think these will change a lot in the next few years. So it would be interesting for people in the future to see what we are using today.
