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Products, in short, are culture.
- From the Model T to the iPhone, and anything before or since, products hold the power to revolutionize the way we work, relax, communicate, travel, look, learn and more. -
Last week we met John Zientek editor of Gear Patrol: the New York based digital magazine that started changing the publishing industry more than a decade ago. Since 2007 Gear Patrol highlights the most interesting, high quality, well designed products…and bring the greater stories of these products to readers whether it is from a material side, or the story of the people who use them.
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Always one step ahead.
Their editors and writers team learn about products in all fields including outdoors and fitness, motoring, style, watches, home and electronics, all the time. They get a hundred products a day into New York’s office which are reviewed and tested thinking how they would serve their readers.
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“We interview and talk with designers, people from the manufacturing side…that way when we do make recommendations is definitely something that has been put through rigorous testing and research.” says the editor. “At the end of the day we want to recommend products that are well made, that will perform their test better than they were designed to do and better than anything else in the market…And we want to promote brands that are doing good things, whether that is manufacturing, design, sustainability, any range of things.”
Gear Patrol’s readers are known for being picky and demanding consumers. They really do love learning about what makes something stand out so editors and writers need to do a lot of research. Sometimes is easy as hopping on a phone and other times that means flying on a plane and going around the world...spending time in factories or working with designers or doing actual reporting on that process.
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Nothing beats experience.
What really makes Gear Patrol different from other men orientated online magazines and a true leader on the segment is that it started online. A small website determined to help people to make smarter purchasing decisions.
This give the magazine a unique position in the market place as opposed to other publications which were in print and turned online. Websites took off and sales took off, and almost all magazines tried to position themselves online, while Gear Patrol write to that audience since the start. They specifically know how to intereact with people through the internet.
Their printed edition is pure indulgence. Instead of having to fit what is a magazine to an online publication it is right the opposite, a combinations of high-end graphic design with exquisite paper for a 360º experience. “Everyone really enjoys producing a tangible version of what we do online…All editors and writers have the opportunity to expand all those stories and turn them into beautiful images.” John Zientek mentions.
We cannot wait to see CAPITA’s story featured on the site ;).