Editorial & print production

I was the editor of Frank Ocean’s Boys Don’t Cry magazine, released alongside his second album, Blonde, in August 2016.

I worked directly with Frank Ocean and his team to shape, edit and manage the magazine’s content through to print, coordinating material from a high-profile group of international contributors including Kanye West, Kae Tempest and Wolfgang Tillmans.

The role combined hands-on editing with stakeholder and print-production management. I was responsible for bringing together different voices and formats into a coherent publication, managing feedback and changes from multiple stakeholders, maintaining editorial quality and helping deliver the finished magazine against the immovable deadline of a major global album launch.

The magazine was released simultaneously through pop-up shops in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and London, becoming part of one of the defining cultural moments and most talked-about record releases of the decade.

Achievements

• Edited a major international print publication from content development through to final production, maintaining editorial quality across a complex, high-profile project.
• Worked directly with Frank Ocean and his team, managing feedback, editorial decisions and evolving requirements in the run-up to publication.
• Managed content from multiple high-profile contributors, including Kanye West, Kae Tempest and Wolfgang Tillmans, bringing distinct voices and formats together into a coherent publication.
• Oversaw copy through the print-production process, working accurately and methodically through editing, revisions, proofing and final content sign-off.
• Managed multiple stakeholders and competing priorities against a fixed global launch date, responding quickly to changes without compromising editorial standards.
• Applied rigorous editorial judgement and quality assurance to a publication receiving exceptional levels of public and media attention.
• Delivered under the pressure and confidentiality of a major global cultural launch, where timing, accuracy and discretion were critical.
• Helped deliver a publication that became an integral part of the Blonde release, distributed simultaneously across four major cities and selling out immediately.