Formerly an editor of Spy and New York Magazine, Andersen has a particularly original mind, and he's always been sensitive to what's going on around him. It's worth pointing out, too, that his understanding of design is perhaps more sophisticated than most: so what does it say of his sense of magazines (and of where they're headed) that he has selected as his art and design directors two of our foremost television designers, Bonnie Siegler and Emily Oberman of Number 17 in New York? (Even better for Kurt, Bonnie and Emily happen to also be seasoned graphic and editorial designers. It's a smart choice.)
If Colors took chances under Tibor Kalman's leadership, it will no doubt continue, with Andersen, to push against expectations. But the Benetton connection does indeed remain a bit of a slippery slope and today's Times piece cites this, the fuzzy border between a clothing company and a magazine as one of its bigger editorial challenges.
"Irreverent, joyous and full of fun" are the qualities Andersen claims to want to revisit in the new magazine. Having seen Schwarzenegger as a black man before he was elected Governor, one can only imagine what's coming next.
I, for one, look forward to it.

Comments [11]
11.04.03
08:15
11.05.03
06:20
-Scott
11.05.03
09:40
11.07.03
12:52
Thank you
11.09.03
04:29
11.10.03
11:52
Advertising Age: "Benetton and the Bending Boundaries of Publishing" By Randall Rothenberg
November 09, 2003 - "Can advertising ever really be entertainment? Can it provide truly objective news? Are marketing communications inherently inimical to the values of independent communications? These are only a few of the provocative questions raised by the hiring of Kurt Andersen, the gifted former editor of New York Magazine and founder of Inside.com, as chairman and editorial director of Colors, the Benetton publication. And they are worth asking now, because sponsored infotainment, of various formats, is being proposed as a solution -- perhaps the solution -- for marketers confronted by audience fragmentation and the increasing ineffectiveness of traditional marketing formats.
My answers are yes, yes and absolutely not..."
Read story at:
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=39123
11.11.03
02:12
Jay
05.03.04
12:58
05.25.04
06:55
There is also a concise biography available here.
On another note, I'd be interested in hearing reactions to the first issue edited by Kurt Andersen, which is out now. It takes the publication in quite a different direction.
05.25.04
11:16
09.09.04
05:50