by Herman Manson (@marklives) Mark Rosenberg was flipping through Wallpaper magazine when he saw a feature on newspaper design. It was sometime in 2005 and he had just getting started in the ad biz, with a background in the arts. Rosenberg went home and designed his first newspaper. It was called Design Times. He was 20.
Rosenberg knew that students with a design interest could hardly afford the international design glossies imported into the country. He also struggled to find design orientated publications that spoke to him as a consumer. With this in mind the first print run of Design Times would sell at R2 a copy. He printed 500 four pagers and was selling ads at R500 a pop. It just covered his production costs. He sold his first ad to a reseller of Adobe and Apple products.
Overheads were low – he was staying with his folks and putting the newspaper out from his bedroom.
At the time Rosenberg had only a limited amount of exposure to the publishing business (the agency he was working for had a travel client and was producing their in-house magazine).
Initially Design Times, which covered graphic design and photography, was less about content and more about layout and design admits Rosenberg but this has gradually been changing. Rosenberg has expanded editorial coverage to touch on multiple facets of design including fashion, interiors, architecture and product design.
Over the next three years the publication gradually built up a readership and an advertising base, but as the global financial crisis was knocking down ad budgets, two of his biggest clients, both well known tech brands, pulled all their advertising from print. Rosenberg, who had gotten married and moved out of the house by now, took a two and a half year break from publishing the paper.
It would only restart in mid 2010 as a bimonthly when he cut a deal with Beyond Publishing to relaunch the title. Rosenberg had previously been doing some design work for them. Beyond would provide the sales team and admin infrastructure and Rosenberg would design and edit the relaunched Design Times.
Looking ahead Rosenberg says he is working on an app for Design Times that would move it away from being solely a print product. This is to protect ad revenue, which has been moving online, and to access an international audience interested in South African (and global) design trends.
The app should hopefully be ready by the time Design Indaba swings by next year, says Rosenberg, and will feature content unique from the print title. While the printed paper and the app will run concurrently Rosenberg says he believes the future of Design Times will be digital. His market certainly plays in that space – around 60% of his readers fall in the 18-25 age bracket.
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