Client:BRAVO
Date:16 April, 2015
Online:It's a printed magazine. Drop by my place and I'll show you my collection.
The BRAVO magazine is my entry in the professional writing world, my origin story, if you will. It was a dream come true and the start of great journey that now spans over 15 years, and counting. In my two years at Ringier, I published hundreds of articles, won three awards (as a collective), and was one of the most read journalists in the country. It was the place where I developed my writing the most, gained the confidence to interact with anyone, and learned everything about showbiz. I'm not gonna lie, it was a pretty awesome first [writing] job.
Interviews & biographies
It’s always great when you can mix the things you are passionate about with your job. That was BRAVO for me. I got to meet and talk to the guys from the music industry and tell their stories. Every fanboy’s dream.
Reviews & Previews
And, speaking of dreams, who doesn’t want to have backstage access to awesome concerts, listen to unreleased music, watch new movies before everyone else, and get paid for it? All I had to do was write about them, in full-length articles and in my own column presenting the top track and movie releases of the week.
Orginal articles & stories
Because I enjoy writing so much, the coolest thing was the opportunity to research and come up with original articles based on my own concepts—for example, how to become a DJ, with tips from industry leaders and technical facts. And then, every Tuesday, seeing your stuff in print form at the newspaper stand was a reason to get up two hours earlier.
analyses & insights
I am a business major after all, so the financial and commercial part of the industry was always on my radar. Having acces to all this data and being allowed to compile the weirdest analysis, based on music genre, artists, and so many other parameters was a nostalgic bridge to my per-writing time and made a very youthful magazine a tad more mature.
Exclusive reports & inside scoops
If you watched any movie, it's common knowledge: as a journalist you have to investigate, to uncover, to beat other to the information. Knowing everything before anyone else -I still claim I was the first to introduce quite a few songs to the Romanian public and nobody can take that from me- and to get to tell it to the masses was something that gave me positive vibes.
Hot news & latest updates
Compared to printed media, the online environment is more dynamic, interactive, and fresh. The formula for a good web article was simple: the quality remains constant while the quantity expands, and the form condenses. In other words, you keep your writing flawless but do more and shorter stories. We used a supporting website to get the news to the reader before anyone else, keep him informed, and make him curious so he would purchase the printed magazine for the detailed stories.
fashion & trends
Not everything is rainbows and unicorns. Sometimes, there's dirty work to be done. Some of the BRAVO articles, like the trends or advice columns, were imported from the German issue - the mother ship, as we used to call it- and had to be localized and adapted to the Romanian market. As the only german speaker in the editorial team, they always landed on my table. Whilst not being my favorite task, as a sneaker fanatic and fashion lover it helped me a lot to develop my knowledge and writing skills in a stylish direction, which helped me a ton in teh future.
