Mark McGough developed a passion for drawing from an early age, leading him to pursue a career in graphic design. After graduating from university he started ‘Nano’, a magazine with the objective to promote the ‘best of the best’ in art and design. Here Mark talks to i-genius about the obstacles he has encountered and overcome, his inspirations, and the extent to which the media weild power over public consciousness.
Editor: Can you explain the ethos of your magazine ‘Nano’?
Mark: Nano’s objective is to promote the best of the best. There are so many young artists and designers out there with an amazing talent who never get seen. We publish visually striking work online and in print, by students and recent graduates from across the world. We believe, to have success it’s not who you know that counts but who knows you.
When you are at art college your peers are the future leaders and the most important thing is to develop your reputation in college as a hard working, talented and creative individual so you are remembered. Too many students want to be seen by the industry and what they don’t realise is that employees of these large corporations/practices are desperate for new ideas to impress their bosses, which often results in monkey see monkey do. And it’s no longer your idea but a strap line for an advertisement campaign.
That does not mean you need to be secretive with your work though and when looking for a job everybody needs to email sample sheets but your reputation in college has much more power. What Nano is working towards is bridging colleges together, so a students reputation can spread across the nation or even the world.
Editor: What is your background, and what was it that spurred you to set up Nano?
Mark: My Grandfather was a talented landscape and wildlife artist, my Father and brother are architects and I am a Graphic Designer. I have always pursued art from a very early age. My earliest memory of drawing was when I was 4. I was drawing a flower from a photograph and the au pair told me the petals were too big. From then on I drew a lot of cars from my imagination, constantly in competition with my brother to see who could draw the best car. From about the age of 9 I started to draw self portraits. Later on I choose Art as a GCSE, then again as an A-Level, then chose to do a Foundation course in Art & Design and then finally a degree in Graphic Design.
It was during this time I realised to actually be able to draw well is an extremely rare skill. For my final major project in my second year of the degree I chose to design a booklet of vouchers for local businesses. The idea behind this was to do design for real clients instead of answering just another fictitious brief. The book of vouchers soon became a concept for a magazine.
Editor: Were there any major obstacles in establishing Nano? What would be your advice to young people starting out based on this experience?
Mark: The most difficult thing for Nano was funding. The problem is nobody believes in a novice and so after many attempts at cold calling, writing emails and having meetings there was still no money coming in. The strategy then changed from approaching corporate giants to targeting local businesses (very similar to the original final major project brief). The thing is local businesses have very small budgets so a lot of advertisers were required to cover the costs of printing. Each ad was sold for just £25 to £45. This was kept up for a few issues but was too draining for too little money.
The strategy for Nano has now changed. We no longer attempt to print an issue a month. Instead we print an issue every time we organise an event, like Miss Wimbledon for example. And now that Nano has more of a reputation in Wimbledon we were able to win a large department store in the area as an advertiser, which will pay for the majority of printing.
As a result we will be distributing copies to Wimbledon College of Art, the audience of Miss Wimbledon and a few copies to the main colleges in London and North Surrey.
Our website will be updated regularly and the ‘best of’ will be printed for the next event. My advise to anyone starting up a magazine is to make it web based first and to begin by targeting local advertisers.
Editor: What are you currently working on with Nano? Any forthcoming projects we should know about?
Mark: We are currently organising Miss Wimbledon, a beauty contest to raise the awarness of young artists and designers. We want to give local talent a face and support them through their studies.
Editor: What are your hopes for the future of this enterprise?
Mark: Our goal is to reach every art student in every art college across the world. Once this has been achieved I would like to set up The Nano Academy.
Editor: Who is the most interesting person you have met through/interviewed for your magazine?
Mark: Jason Brooks is one of my college heroes. He started the trend of producing those sexy stylised girls that are now so common on CD covers and flyers. He is copied a lot but never rivaled. When he agreed to answer my questions for Nano I was over the moon.
We also interviewed the photographer Richard Warren. His photographs are so polished and creative and he also shared some valuable knowledge.
Probably the most exciting collaboration through Nano was with Punky Fish, a trendy fashion label that targets 15 to 25 year old girls. We held a Fashion Show on 3rd June 2007 and our models dressed in their clothing. It was a lot of fun and they were very friendly.
Editor: To what extent do you believe that the media hold the power to shape public consciousness? Do you think this has positive implications for social causes?
Mark: The media shapes peoples opinion about everything outside their home. Some editors are biased and some publishers have ulterior motives. Everybody seems to think they know Tom Cruise or Victoria Beckham but really people are basing their judgement on what the media says about them.
Propaganda is also a very powerful tool and unfortunately it still happens a lot in every country. The purest form of the media is wikipedia.org. Anybody can write an article on wikipedia but each article must quote its sources. This gives power to the people instead of the ruling class.
There are good and bad examples of the media and editorial content can often be lead by corporations, the government and biased writers/editors. At it’s worst it can brainwash a nation or divert attention from an important issue. At its best the media can promote social causes, which is what Nano is about.
Editor: What does the term ‘social entrepreneur’ mean to you?
Mark: A social entrepreneur is somebody who has achieved success by contributing to the greater good of society.
Editor: Can we hope to see you at the i-genius world summit in Thailand?!
Mark: I would very much like to go but have decided that at this stage Nano needs to be developed further before I will see the full benefit from such an experience. It sounds like an amazing opportunity though and hope you do it again next year.
