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April 3, 2003updated 17 May 2007 11:30am

Icon has designs on world architecture shake up

By Press Gazette

Architects and designers are to be targeted by a magazine that is hoping to shake up the world of architecture and design journalism.

Icon, a 164-page monthly, is the debut launch from new publishing company Media10, set up by nine former staffers of Wilmington subsidiary ETP.

Marcus Fairs, the award-winning deputy editor of Building Design is editor, Kieron Long (ex-Builder group) is deputy and Aiden Walker, former editor-in-chief at ETP, is executive editor.

The magazine hopes to attract professional architects and designers as well as the increasing number of young professionals who have taken an interest in design as a result of television programmes such as Dream Spaces and Grand Design.

As a result, the title will be sold on news-stands as well as distributed via controlled circulation. It will have a print run of 30,000.

Icon publisher Daren Newton was business development editor at ETP where he oversaw titles such as Blueprint and FX magazine. “We know the industry very well and felt that there was room for another publication that had a very high quality to it.

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“There are a lot of young people out there who want to go where the professionals go to buy products and services,” he said.

Fairs said he also wanted to inject some humour into the title. “Most writing on the subject is turgid, sycophantic and shallow. We want to change that.”

Newton predicted the project will gain market leadership.

He said a number of staff had quit their jobs at ETP following the departure of its founder and former managing director (his brother) Lee Newton – who has just launched The Party Magazine.

“We were scared ETP would be absorbed by Wilmington,” he said.

By Ruth Addicott

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