HUW GWYTHER OF WONDERLAND

Posted on | November 18, 2008 |

Editorial Director and Publisher of Wonderland, Huw Gwyther always wanted to publish a magazine. After studying fashion design at St Martins and landing a gig working with Mario Testino - he knew that magazines were for him. Bridging the gap in the publication world for all things related to contemporary culture and style, Wonderland was created in an attempt to have content that everyone could take something from, and while doing so, target as many people as possible. With an exciting new project on the go titled rollacoaster.tv, Gwyther gave me a sneak peek as to what we can expect from the Dec/Jan publication. Take a look below (YB).

Name: Huw Gwyther
Occupation: Editorial Director and Publisher
Location: London

As both publisher and founder of Wonderland - tell us a little bit about your original mission in starting Wonderland. Was this always something you wanted to do?
yes. It really was something I always wanted to do (publishing a magazine) - although, to be honest, I thought it was impossible when I was younger, so I looked at many other possible career paths originally (studying fashion design at St Martins, working for Mario Testino and Visionaire) but realized quickly that I’m not so good at doing what other people tell me to!  So I decided, after learning the basics, that I had to try and start my own publishing business, whether it would work out or not. I felt there was a gap in the market for a magazine covering all areas of contemporary culture and style – everything I’m interested in basically – but with a fun, tongue-in-cheek tone that never takes itself too seriously. It’s my ideal magazine.

What do you think distinguishes Wonderland from other publications?
I think we’ve more or less achieved the above, what I originally intended, which definitely sets us apart, although there’s still a huge amount for us to achieve and improve upon. I want Wonderland to have something for everyone, and to reach as many people as possible. Above all Wonderland should be inspirational – not dry, or too serious – but constantly surprising, informative and always visually stimulating.

You are currently working on finishing up the Dec/Jan issue, which, for the first time, features a model on the cover (as opposed to actors or musicians). Why did you approach the the covershot in this fashion and what can we expect from this issue?
we have done models before…but not for a while. To be honest there were no actors with films coming out that we felt were right for our cover right now, so we decided to do a fashion cover and try to create a strong, directional image to appeal to our readership – we’ll see if it works when the sales figures come through! The issue is very visually strong, with some of the best photography we’ve yet published – we’ve been going for over three years now and the standard of our contributing photographers is constantly getting better and better – oh and there’s a great, eye-opening interview with amazing Dutch actress Carice Van Houten, starring opposite Tom Cruise in December’s Valkyrie – she’s not too well known yet, but is going to be a big name to watch over the next year.

You are currently working on launching a website called rollacoaster.tv. Tell us a little bit about this upcoming project?
It will launch in January. Its simply just video content – no photography, no text so totally non-competitive to our magazines. Its going to be quite ground-breaking and unlike anything else. Primarily fashion-based but with contributions from artists and aspiring film-makers, hopefully it will become quite talked about in 2009 – I’m extremely excited about it, the first pieces of content we have are, well, you’ll have to wait and see!

Where do you see Wonderland in 10 years?
I don’t know. Anything could happen. I prefer to enjoy the moment and take every day as it comes. As long as I’m enjoying what I’m doing I’m very happy – I work with an incredible group of people and everyone is insanely passionate about what we’re doing, so I’m extremely lucky… and we’ll see where it leads us.

You are also starting work on the Spring/Summer issue of Man About Town. What do you daily duties entail?
everything! Working on advertising, commissioning content, design, production/printing, distribution, budgeting, accounting… And trying to keep the team motivated and happy! Its pretty exhausting but I love everything about it…

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