Title:
Life at the Extreme issue 25 – ‘To Russia with Love’
Client:
Volvo Ocean Race
Spec:
40pp + cover, A4 printed web offset litho, 20,000 run
Background: Since Whitbread sold their Round the World Race lock, stock and barrel to Volvo Event Management at the end of the 1997-98 race, the supporters’ magazine has gone from strength to strength. Frequency of publication varies depending on what news there is and what stage the race is at: off-season it tends to be less frequent than when the race is running and for the forthcoming race the traditional four-year race cycle has been condensed to three years, so there is obviously more to report at this stage.
The latest issue of the magazine, which incidentally has been produced by Cradducks since Day One and has even appeared in bumper format as the official souvenir programme, reports on the news that, following the announcement of Lenta, the Russian entry for 2008-09 the race is to finish in St Petersburg in 2009.
Art Director/Designer: Ian lock
What the client had to say:
“To Russia with Love was always going to be a fully ‘Russian’ version of Life at the Extreme. There was just the small matter of arranging the signing of St Petersburg into our schedule, and not forgetting the not-so-simple matter of sailing a Volvo Open 70 up to St Pete to be on parade during the grand occasion.
“We had a Plan (b) of course, and even a Plan (c), but really, it was Plan (a) that we both wanted to execute, at it was with relief that that we learned that the signing ceremony had been firmed up to fit just within our deadlines – but only just! Even Valentina Matvieko, the Governor of St Petersburg changed her plans for us. Our Communications Director was dispatched to Russia with a camera crew and a stills photographer to cover the event, while back in the UK, Ian [Lock] and I were busy collating the supporting material that I had commissioned with a Russian theme. We were able to start work on our regular features quite well in advance, but there is nothing like a deadline to focus the mind. Ian and I worked flat out, with the help of our consulting editor, to have the pages designed, copy edited and images in place, so that the final pages could just be dropped in quickly. We were delighted when Edward Gorman, the motor-racing correspondent for the Times, and Nick Townsend, the chief sports writer for the Independent both delivered fantastic copy and before the tight deadline we had given them. The result? One of the best magazines Ian and I have produced and we feel very proud.”
Lizzie Ward, Editor
What the art director had to say:
“Each issue follows a reasonably strict schedule – as magazine production should – but I always endeavour to build in a day or so for late copy/images or other unforeseen circumstances. I have a no-fail production date for each issue. Lizzie (the editor) had warned me that there would be such a case this time due to the Russian announcement, and this affected seven pages in all. We tend to take the technology for granted these days, but what we are able to achieve in hours would have been unthinkable not so long ago. And it’s the mix of a great project and using that technology to achieve the best result that makes my job exciting. Roll on Issue 26!”