Inspire magazine is one of the most popular lifestyle magazines in Slovakia. Founded in 2004, the magazine celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Just the right time to meet Inspire’s šéfredaktorka, Zuzana Lobotková, who has worked for many years as a writer for the magazine before becoming editor in chief. Among other topics, we chatted with her about Inspire magzine’s distinctive stlye, great covers (below N°70 by Peter Spurny) and the balance between online and print.
Can you briefly introduce yourself?
My name is Zuzana Lobotková, I am the editor in chief of Inspire magazine. I was born in Trenčín, Sovakia, where I also went to high school. When I was about 16 or 17 years old it was the first time I saw Inspire magazine and I thought „Hey, I like it, wouldn’t it be great to be one of the Inspire magazine writers?“. When I moved to Bratislava to study journalism I met the former editor in chief and became part of Inspire. This year I’m getting my masters degree and am still having fun with Inspire.
The cover of the latest issue, N°71 DECADE, was shot by Marek Mičánek
What is Inspire magazine about and who are your readers?
Inspire is a magazine with style. We write about fashion, culture, art, amazing people, music, sports and inspiration in a local and international context. Our readers are active people with style, fond of originality, design and beauty (in all aspects of the word), with their own opinion. Looking at 10 years of Inspire magazine, I think it is a great mix of people from 18 to 40 years, women and men – everybody’s got to love Inspire 🙂
How would you describe the style of Inspire?
As the subhead of Inspire says: magazine with a difference. The style of Inspire is in my opinion pure, with a simple yet elegant layout, original…one of a kind. If you look at any other magazine, you can’t mistake it for Inspire. And yet, each cover is different and amazing.
Issue N°66’s cover photo by Natália Evelyn Benčičová
What does it take for a photo to make it to the cover of Inspire magazine? Can you show us your favorite cover of inspire?
The photo needs to fit to the mood of the issue, i.e. the topic and season. We work with the most amazing photographers and new talents often send us their editorials. My favorite cover… don’t you have a more difficult task? If I really have to choose, it’d be N° 58 or 69.
Issues N° 58 and 69 (PUNISHMENT, cover by Jakub Gulyás)
How do you combine print and online?
Just recently we launched our new website in order to have more space online for our authors, business partners and to become more open. So if you have any interesting project you’d like to present and our editorial calendar isn’t suitable for you, there’s www.inspire-magazine.sk. However, our main focus is still the print version of Inspire magazine. I do believe that printed magazines have a future. People like to browse through paper magazines as it is an experience for more senses. You can touch it and smell the paper – many people, including me, do that. That is why we decided to go with the technological trends while holding on to our classic paper version.
Issue N° 60, covershoot by Jakub Gulyás
What inspires you?
People. Amazing people who like their job, who are creative and passionate. They give me so much energy and enthusiasm for my own work.
Which magazines lie on your bedside table?
There’s quite a big pile of Inspire magazines – from issue N° 1. Other than Inspire? As I’m writing my masters thesis about film magazines, it’s Kinečko, Film.sk and Cinema. However, I like Inspire magazine much more – I’m loyal to my precious baby 🙂
How does a perfect day in Bratislava look like?
Weather does not bother me as long as it is not too hot – sun, rain, a gentle breeze. More important is whom I meet that day. Talking to my friends, inspirational people, a little bit of fun, a good tea or lemonade and no stress. A balance between work and relaxation – that’s my perfect day.
Thank you very much for the inspiring interview!
Zuzana Lobotková, editor in chief of Inspire magazine
Photo courtesy of Inspire magazine