Fly Girls of the Week: Creators of Blag Magazine

Who are you?
Sally A. Edwards and Sarah J. Edwards

Where are you from and where are you now?
We were born in Plymouth, Devon – we're twins and had quite a nomadic upbringing in many places throughout England and Scotland, we settled in London in 1994.

What do you currently do at BLAG Magazine?
Sarah: Co-Publisher, Co-Editor and Photographic Director. We also put on events and are creative consultants. Sally: Co-Publisher, Co-Editor, Design and Art Director.

What kind of schooling and experiences prepared you for the creation of BLAG?
Sarah: I didn't love school, in fact I hated every minute. I was pretty much an academic failure – when it came to exams. Except art, so I definitely used that as a time to get inspired. Experiences that led to the editorial and photographic aspect of BLAG are originally from more of a observational point of view. I used to do music PR for bands like Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters and I still look after Public Enemy, so just watching their shoots and interviews made me think about how we'd approach our subjects for BLAG - no gossip, just honest conversation and honest shoots (and there's a lot of fun in the honesty.)
Sally: I couldn’t wait to be a grown-up from the age of 7 and was always making things and being creative. My main childhood memories were drawing and painting. I was average in English, Maths and Sciences, but like Sarah, Art was my strong point. I don’t really remember the transition of wanting to be a graphic designer, but in my mid to late teens this was the route I chose for a career. I was always really into magazines right from as soon as I was old enough to get a weekly order from the local newsagent.

As soon as I was old enough to travel to London, I’d buy international magazines that weren’t available where I lived. They included Raygun, Bikini, Interview and the original Details. These were really inspirational, that and my love of music drove me to want to start a fanzine – BLAG. It introduced me to loads of people and through it I landed work experience at i-D magazine when I was 18 (the youngest person they’d accepted back then). I learned so much in two weeks and it was great to have mentors who were fun and rebellious. I went onto the London College of Printing, but hated every minute I was there so I left after three months and through BLAG found myself working in the music industry. There we handed over the design to Yacht Associates for three issues and a book. Sarah and I kept BLAG going whilst we worked in various jobs until it became full time when I started designing it again in 2004.

As with Sarah my experiences working with bands and film talent gave me a different observational point of view at their interview and shoots, so this certainly helped shape our approach to talent, editorial, shoots and the overall look and feel of the magazine. {{Read more...}}

Comments

[novie]

Great interview! I love the variety of things you cover in you blog.