Interview

012 | INTERVIEW | HELEN ANKERS As part of our celebration of all things darc, Editor Sarah Cullen brings you an exclusive interview with Managing Editor Helen Ankers - the mastermind behind the publication and one of the reasons the title has become as successful as it is today.

It’s not typical to read an interview with one of the journalists behind a publication, but I wanted to take this opportunity to tell Helen Ankers’ story. Despite knowing her well as a colleague and friend, I wanted our readers to discover more about the person “behind the fringe”, which she is so well-known for, and the role she has played in establishing darc magazine. A born and bred northerner, Ankers, formerly Fletcher, grew up in Stockport, Manchester, which is also where darc’s head office is based. Ankers resides in a beautiful converted 1930s house with her husband of five-years Sam, and two-year-old son Ezra. “Family life is hectic, and mostly spent juggling work with trips to soft play and the park! Occasionally I get to squeeze a date night in with Sam and visit the gym,” she laughs. “I really do enjoy the gym, and a spin class is my go-to for de-stressing; the amount of time I get in the gym has scaled back considerably since Ezra arrived into the world but I could never give it up completely.” Following a continuous passion for all things creative, Ankers studied Media at Sheffield Hallam University before completing an NCTJaccredited course in Magazine Journalism. “I’ve always loved learning, and in all honesty, I was probably a bit of a geek in school,” she reflects. “I always enjoyed subjects that allowed the most creativity: art, drama, English language, and so on.” When it came to choosing a career, Ankers reveals she “fell into journalism”. Studying media at university allowed her to explore multiple avenues: “It covered lots of different elements, one of which was a module called Specialist Writing, which was taught by a journalist. I asked her about potential courses I could do, and it went from there. “One of the motivations for going forward was the fact she said to me ‘I’d struggle with the fast pace of a condensed course’, which is what I wanted to do. I took that to mean she didn’t think I would succeed, which was like a red rag to a bull. Still to this day, I can’t believe she said it… perhaps it was a weird way of motivating me. Ultimately, I went on to prove her wrong and finished the six-month course with a distinction. I guess I should thank her really!” After graduating and moving back to Manchester, Ankers worked to gain as much experience as possible in the journalism field. “I had so many work-experience jobs in those formative years of my career. Mainly, a lot of culture pieces for local websites and magazines, as well as with BBC Manchester. I wrote gig reviews and culture / entertainment content – I’d write anything just to get something on my CV,” she explains. “I even had a work experience stint at the John Lewis partners magazine (I worked on the shop floor during the weekends). “I really enjoyed it all, and the free gig tickets and products to review were a bonus. It felt like such an opportunity to be trusted with these articles and seeing my name in print gave me a real confidence boost and sense of achievement. Having the PR contact for Estée Lauder in my early 20s was a real highlight! Once I’d finished uni I really didn’t want to have to move to London for a journalism career (no offence to anyone living down there but I’m a northern girl through and through), and while publishing companies in the North are few and far between I ended up getting my first paid journalism job with a company called InterGame – they published B2B magazines relating to the amusements and casino industry. I was there five years and progressed to Editor during that time. However, casinos and gaming

weren’t really my thing and it felt like the time was right to move on and try something new. I learnt a lot during that first ‘proper’ role though.” It was at this point that Ankers moved to Mondiale publishing house, where she took a position as Assistant Editor on Mondo DR, a magazine that focuses on the entertainment technology for clubs, theatres, and hospitality venues. “I had been working on that magazine for just under three years when the opportunity to work for [d]arc media presented itself,” she elaborates. “darc had only been around a couple of years at that point and initially I worked across both arc and darc before moving solely onto darc as Editor for a good few years. Since then, I’ve gained a couple of great Editors in Sarah [Cullen, darc editor] and Matt [Waring, arc editor] and have progressed to a more senior role as Managing Editor of both titles.” Reflecting on her time as Editor, Ankers describes her enjoyment of working on a design publication that gave her creative flexibility: “One of the things I like about working at Mondiale is that the Editors are heavily involved in the magazine layouts. As we’re a small team we all end up wearing ‘lots of hats’ and often put the layouts together as well as write the content, but I think it makes the magazine better as you know how you want the article to look, and which images are important to be featured and so on. Then we’ll go to the production team for anything in need of a keener design eye.” The [d]arc media team is very fortunate to be able to travel a lot for work, and this is one of Ankers’ highlights of working for the publications. “I think the travel opportunities over the years have been the standout moments for me. I’ve travelled all over Italy visiting clients, New York is my favourite city, and I’ve been to so many places I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to outside of work. I’ll always be grateful for having a job that offers so much creativity and variation – even when the travel starts to feel like a drag, the pandemic taught me I couldn’t sit behind a desk all day, every day, and not travel with work.” Another highlight for Ankers is the people. “What I love most about design journalism is telling the stories of all the talented people involved in it. Whether that’s a product designer, interior designer, lighting designer and so on… interviewing people and bringing their

experiences, influences, and creations to life is what I enjoy and find most special about this kind of journalism. “My absolute all-time favourite interview has to be Sir Kenneth Grange,” reflects Ankers. “What an absolute honour it was to speak to such an influential product designer. He was just the sweetest, most humble, and funny person to talk to. I could have chatted to him all day.” Referencing Michael Anastassiades as another of her favourite designers, Ankers remembers her interview with him fondly. “I got to meet him a few years ago at a Flos event in London and actually felt a bit star struck! He’s such a lovely guy and really down to earth. He’s probably one of my favourite people to interview as well as he really draws you in with his passion for impeccable design.” Other notable designers Ankers admires and has had the pleasure of working with include Lindsey Adelman for her sculptural lighting, and product studio Ladies & Gentleman from New York, as well as Canadian brand Lambert et Fils. “I’ve always said, if you enjoy writing you can write about nearly anything given the information.” However, as with most jobs, it’s not all fun and glamour. Ankers believes one of the harder aspects of the role is “fighting for advertising spend!” along with balancing the editorial content. When asked about whether the magazines tap into her personal interests, Ankers confesses she knew “very little about lighting” when she first started out. “I won’t pretend to know the true ins and outs of all the technology that goes into lighting. “Whether it’s decorative or architectural lighting – some of the installations and products that I’ve seen during my time on the magazines have been breathtaking and I truly appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into the design process. I think my love for lighting has definitely grown since being in this role.” During her eight years working at [d]arc media, Ankers has witnessed a major shift in the role of decorative lighting in the interiors industry. “It’s a relatively small industry and you tend to see the same faces at all the big shows. As such, you get to know some people really well and it’s always nice to see a friendly face when you’re the other side of the world.

“The main change I’ve seen is decorative lighting being taken more seriously. When I first started interviewing designers about their projects, I would ask them about the decorative lighting elements but they didn’t really have much to say and would default back to what the architectural lighting brought to the space, or would focus on the furniture - they would have very limited answers; but as time has gone on, it has become more important to both clients and designers, and everyone has got a lot to say on the matter. “The other big change has been the technology. The lines are really being blurred between architectural and decorative now with one becoming more ‘pretty’ and the other becoming more ‘technical’. Advances in technology have really opened the gates on what can be achieved.” Absorbing the knowledge and perspective of numerous designers and their work over the years, for Ankers, what makes an exceptional piece of decorative lighting is how it “works as a piece within a room, whether it’s turned on or off”. “One thing I’ve learnt over the years is that decorative lighting is a fine balancing act; it has to look good yet be functional. It doesn’t necessarily have to have the ‘wow’ factor to be aesthetically pleasing - decorative lighting covers so many different types of light fixtures that it’s not a case of one size fits all,” she explains. Turning the conversation back to her role as Managing Editor, Ankers describes more about her role overseeing both arc and darc magazines: “I work with the editors, sales managers, and the events manager to make sure the editorial direction of the magazines, and the brand as a whole, is the best it can be – it’s a constant work in progress and things change all the time, with new ideas popping up. That’s what so nice about working in a creative industry, nothing sits still for very long. There’s always something else we can be doing, or something new we can introduce. I also look for new commercial opportunities for the magazines and make sure we have a strong presence at industry events. It’s all about getting the brand out there and making sure people know who we are, what we do, and why they should be working with us!” Since she took the reins off its first editor Pete Brewis, when darc was as a supplement in arc magazine, Ankers has developed a strong identity for the publication. “I like to think I’ve grown darc’s reach in terms of readers. When it started, the main readership was around lighting designers as it had the same circulation as arc. However, as a team we’ve worked hard over the years to introduce the magazine to more and more interior designers. I’d like to think I’ve also grown

the calibre of brands and designers featured in the magazine with a strong focus on product design and really getting ‘into’ the products and processes involved.” As well as having a natural flair for creating a design publication, following product trends at events, and building a strong industry network, Ankers also attributes strong teamwork to darc’s success: “Collaboration and communication is key and the best ideas come out of conversation”. “I can only see that darc will continue to grow and get stronger year on year,” she says. “The decorative lighting industry is growing at such a fast pace; I am excited to see how these next few years develop now we’re coming out of the pandemic. I would like to thank everyone that has worked with me over the years – whether that’s on editorial content or supporting the magazine commercially. Hand on heart we couldn’t do this without you, and it’s been amazing to see the magazine and industry grow side by side. The future of the magazine now lies in the hands of its current Editor who I have complete faith in… but don’t doubt for a second, I’ll be there in the background to support and collaborate when needed. I can’t let go of darc completely just yet!” www.darcmagazine.com

As part of darc’s tenth celebration, current Editor Sarah Cullen sat down with its Managing Editor to find out more about the person who established darc into the publication it is today. Featured images show Ankers’ participation in numerous industry-leading events, including some from our own in-house [d]arc awards. Ankers has had the opportunity to travel extensively in her role as editor of darc, and interview some of the top designers in the lighting and interiors industry. Now, she holds the Managing Editor position at [d]arc media and keeps a watchful eye over her two editors, Sarah Cullen and Matt Waring.