Designing the Editorial Experience

(F39)_Job:01-40630 Title:RP-Designing the Editional Experience

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154 DESIGNING THE EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE

TEXT

Case Study:

Vanity Fair Italia

WEBSITE: VANITYFAIR.IT

FREQUENCY: WEEKLY

FORMAT: PRINT

LOCATION: MILAN

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: DEVIN PEDZWATER

EDITOR: LUCA DINI

OWNER: CONDÉ NAST

FOUNDED: 2004

International editions strike a delicate

balance between staying true to the

flagship publications editorial mission

and forging their own creative vision,

with content that feels true to its

readers’ interests. The truth is, Vanity

Fair has stood for many dierent

things in the more than 100 years

since the title first appeared—early

incarnations dating back to the

nineteenth century covered humor,

society, and theater. Regardless of

whether it’s speaking to European

or American readers, Vanity Fair

is universally witty, cosmopolitan,

and cultured.

The redesign of Vanity Fair Italia,

launched in May 2013, came after

more than a year without a creative

director at the helm. When American

designer Devin Pedzwater came

on board in late 2012, he had a lot

of cleaning up to do and worked

quickly to get the publication’s grid

structure, typography, and color

palette standardized once again.

With a preference for high-quality

photography (“the photography

is the star,” he says), Pedzwater

has divined from the pages a

renewed essence of glamour

and sophistication.

Devin Pedzwater

Creative Director,

Vanity Fair Italia

Devin Pedzwater is no stranger to

designing magazines for a mass audi-

ence. But the size, popularity, and

frequency of Vanity Fair Italia, which

produces more than 300 pages every

week, puts him in a whole new league.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylva-

nia, Pedzwater studied graphic design

at Penn State University and has built

a hefty editorial design portfolio that

includes art direction for Condé Nast

Traveler, Sports Illustrated, and Roll-

ing Stone. In his eight years at Spin,

Pedzwater was the creative director

responsible for the full brand redesign

in 2012, which was widely praised

for playing to the strengths of each

medium, but ultimately paved the way

for the publisher to pull the plug on

print. When we spoke just weeks after

his Vanity Fair Italia design relaunch,

he seemed remarkably calm for some-

one whose time is now split between

two countries.

When did you start working as

creative director of Vanity Fair

Italia and how has the transition

been for you?

I got the job oicially over Thanks-

giving 2012, and since then, I’ve been

going back and forth between New

York and Milan, doing two weeks

there, two weeks here.

The work culture and also the

life-in-Italy culture both came at

once. Everyone involved knew that

was going to be a challenge for me.

I always expect the worst and hope

for the best. But when I got there,

the transition was very easy. The sta

was very open to change; they wel-

comed me because they were looking

for someone to help them direct the

magazine into a new place.

What was the situation like when

you stepped in?

The last creative director was

Brian Anstey, who is now at InStyle

magazine. He worked directly in the

Milan oice for about two years. In

that time, he took the magazine,

redesigned it, and directed the whole

sta. Then, once his term was done,

Covers of Vanity Fair Italia, before

(left, May 2012) and after (right,

May 2013). The redesign was led

by Devin Pedzwater.

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