Five Minute Focus – Wall
Team TMN talks to Mansoor Bhatti and Faisal Shah, Co-Founders of Things By People, to find out about their creative agency as well as their revolutionary new interactive magazine, Wall (@tbpwall)…
Tell us a bit about Things By People and Wall magazine?
Things by People is a full-service creative fashion agency. We partnered up to start the agency in order to bring and curate locally based and international artists from the fashion industry to the UAE as a way to improve the overall quality of creative work here. We do this by keeping our artists’ desire to create at the core of the business.
Wall magazine is the first Instagram-designed moving image magazine in the world, which we developed in order to promote our artists’ work.
Tell us about the concept behind Wall…
Wall was designed to showcase the work of Things By People, as well as the artists we represent. It was designed to break the ordinary thinking when it comes to browsing photography on Instagram.
What made you decide to launch the magazine?
Just like everything else we have done, we wanted to make a difference through our Instagram page. We were bored of the existing format, so we challenged ourselves to create something new. We thought, why don’t we make our Instagram more fun?
The concept all stemmed from observing how Instagram works. The social media platform itself is simply a wall of photos, so we took our observations and came up with the idea to turn our wall of photos into an interactive magazine, and so @tbpwall came to be.
What made you choose Instagram as the platform on which to launch Wall?
Instagram is used heavily within the fashion industry – much more than other platforms, such as Facebook. As most of Things By People’s creative work is visual – photos and videos – there is no other place that can express our vision in a better way.
What does Wall offer, content-wise, that is different from other online platforms?
A new experience, as Wall is quick to use and creates an immediate impression. It’s also highly interactive and a lot more fun to view than traditional content in print or online publications.
Who is your target audience?
Anyone interested in fashion or art. Or people who simply want to discover something new!
Will you be working with a dedicated editorial team, or are there opportunities for freelancers?
We are always up for collaborations with different artists or freelancers. However, we only represent artists on an exclusive basis.
How can PRs and brands get involved in the magazine?
Branded Wall issues are up for grabs. Wall is new but it has a growing following from the core fashion industry, and new campaigns, advertorials or even product launches (related to beauty or fashion) can be featured in the magazine. However, to maintain the high quality of Wall, we do insist on curating its content.
How do you see Things By People / Wall evolving in the future?
We keep a tight eye on technology and its benefits. In the immediate future, we will be looking into creating versions for Snapchat and other platforms…