Spencer Bailey

First cover, yeah.

He embodied architecture, hospitality, nightlife, fashion, business, and culture simultaneously.

He is amazing.

He's actually the dad of a very dear friend of mine, so I've met him a few times.

And he is just extraordinary.

Visually and editorially, you also oversaw a major redesign and repositioning of the magazine.

It moved towards a sleeker visual identity, more culturally expansive editorial coverage.

You grew a broader audience.

You put Kanye West on the cover, Solange Knowles on the cover, Peter Zumthor on the cover.

What was your goal at the time?

I wanted to position design as more central to the conversation rather than relegated to this like sideline thing.

I mean, why would Kanye West at the peak of Kanye in the fall of 2016 want to be on this design magazine's cover?

answer the question for us.

Yeah.

I think it's because his heroes had been on the cover and or his heroes were people in that realm and in that world.

They were the Peter Zumthors of the world, right?

The Andos.

And I think he very much sees himself in a similar position to them or certainly did at the time.

I mean, I don't want to speak for him, but that's

probably my guess as to why he would want to do that.