Frederik Frede, Freunde von Freunden
Today we’re back at work with Frederik Frede of German lifestyle site Freunde von Freunden. We speak with Frede on his way home to Berlin and as he begins planning the online magazine's upcoming year.
Where are you today?
In an airplane from Faro, Portugal back to Berlin.
What can you see from the window?
Typical agricultural Portuguese landscape.
Are you a morning or evening person?
I turned into a morning person when I grew older. I wake up with the first sunrays and turn off with the sunset. Winter is pretty tough.
Which magazine do you first remember?
Don’t know if my first Micky Mouse Comics count as magazines but I read Skate, Music and Snowboard Magazines a lot when I grew up. I can’t remember if it was SnowBoarder or Thrasher magazine first. But I definitely and clearly remember Lodown and Spex magazine having an early influence on me.
What’s your favourite magazine this morning?
Right now I would say Brand Eins or Kennedy Magazine.
What’s your favourite place today?
A sunny city with a beach nearby. Could be Lisbon (above) or Los Angeles as both cities have great food and coffee.
The FvF editorial approach feels very print-like. Why did you launch the project as a website and not a printed magazine?
For us it was easier and cheaper to start the whole endeavour as an online magazine. We could test things and work closer with our international network. We always wanted to bring a timeless and valuable feeling to an online medium. That and quality are still our highest priorities.
With more and more magazines and websites emerging that cover lifestyle through individual lives, how does FvF distinguish itself?
We have a very close network of friends and contributors all over the world. We cover creative and inspiring people in almost 100 cities and never cover celebrities, news or just lifestyle products. We curate interesting content from our network and we want to become even more international and diverse with more hard to find and unexpected content.
How do you discover the people you feature, and what criteria are applied to the choices?
All the people we cover know each other through one or two connections. It is like a very small and productive facebook community with similar values and expectations. But the first criteria we always check is if people are creative and inspiring. It is not about their homes or style. It is about their story and life.
Tell us about the FvF print projects to date, and are you planning more?
So far we published a Berlin and international book. We also publish a hotel magazine for 25 Hours hotels and are planning our own Friends of Friends magazine.
What are you most looking forward to this week?
We have three new people starting this week at FvF, and we’re working on new projects. We are also planning the next few months and 2016 after the holiday break and will release some nice new projects.
What are you least looking forward to this week?
The end of summer and the closing of the public swimming pools.
What will you be doing after this chat?
Will close the laptop grab my roadbike and go for a ride with some friends.