Turning to the next Page

Manawatu's coolest magazine, The Page, returns with its second edition this week.

After the success of the first issue, the heat was on the production team to come up with something as good or better. Here's the good news: they've succeeded. (There is no bad news).

Initially the magazine's schedule wasn't set in stone, says editor Graeme Beal, "But the first one seemed to resonate with people. They were asking us 'when's the next one?"'

A lot of the foundation work had been done by the first issue - the processes, the magazine's voice - but the team didn't want to rest on their laurels.

"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to improve on something we were already happy with," says designer Jemma Cheer.

A hallmark of The Page is that it's created by far more than just the three people with their pictures inside the front cover.

Graeme says the magazine is as much by us as it is about us.

Working with different local artists, writers and interviewers each time continues to broaden The Page's voice.

It helps the editorial team cast its net wider too. "Our focus is different for this one, so we could draw from a different pool of people," says Jemma. Story ideas came from contacts, friends, Facebook or other media.

Obvious choices for interviews - musician Jennifer Moss, or new Te Manawa head Andy Lowe - mix with "have to know the right people" material.

"That made it quite organic," says Graeme, "since we weren't trying to shoehorn anyone into a specific fit."

In the end, they found themselves living the editor's dream: too much material to fit in.

That's fine; it can wait until next issue. Jemma says that though issues pass, they don't date or expire the way a newspaper does.

Their body of work continues to create snapshots of Manawatu life and talent; another building block in our sense of place.

"Will it still tell a story about us in one or ten years' time?" Graeme believes it will.

"It's important it becomes a keepsake in this age of disposable information."